


A New Beginning

by saltycryptious



Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: M/M, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, also secret ending who, first fic, if nomura doesn't give us a vanitas redemption arc i'll make one myself damn it, incredibly slow to update oh dear god its like its written like a snail, no yensid because fuck yensid, post kh3, remind got me fucked up but no spoilers, rickey rat will NOT be appearing in this, vanitas wants to change
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-11-09
Updated: 2020-12-15
Packaged: 2021-01-26 07:54:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 47,254
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21370729
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/saltycryptious/pseuds/saltycryptious
Summary: Vanitas knows that he's negativity. It's the only thing he's ever been told. But what about if he had the chance to change? He wanted to change.Maybe he can try again? Can he really make all he's done up to his brothers, to Ventus? He can only hope and try.-----also known as my dumbass self tries to write something of coherence and fails miserably
Relationships: Sora/Riku (Kingdom Hearts)
Comments: 35
Kudos: 105





	1. Fresh Start

**Author's Note:**

> this is my first time writing a fic so i hope that y'all enjoy it! i really enjoyed kh3 and i'm excited for the dlc but for kh4 just give! the! garbage! boy! a! redemption! arc! also i'm bad at writing so please accept this garbage offering and i will try to explain this half assed plot as i go on

_ **Dark...** _

_ **It was dark where he was...** _

_ **Wait...** _

_ **Where was he?** _

Vanitas grabbed his head as he arose slowly from the darkened sands and he gazed at his ebony surroundings. _The Realm of Darkness, huh? _ Vanitas thought to himself. _Not again... Not this time... I've already spent an eternity on these shores, and I'm not up for another. _Leaning on a nearby rock, he took in his surroundings slowly.

Just because he was darkness, it didn't mean he had to be condemned to that fact. He thought that perhaps, he could... change. He had to, he wanted to. He didn't want to stay that way forever. A second fatal defeat, like hell he would accept that, especially to the brat who wore his face. Just thinking about it even made him angrier.

Anger... He had always relied on his and his brothers' negative emotions to thrive. Did he ever stop to think about what would happen if he relied on other emotions? He'd only been told by Xehanort that he was the culmination of negativity, but did he ever think he could be more? He had hated only being known as a half of a whole. Maybe... 

Well, there was no point coming to realise it now. He was stuck. Here. In the Realm of Darkness. The only people he knew who got out had the help of Sora, and needless to say, he and Sora weren't on the best of terms. Even though he was stuck in his heart for years, he had still faced off against him. And look where that got Vanitas. _That bastard's probably laughing up there in the Realm of Light, isn't he? _ Vanitas mused. If only he'd had a way out. He'd find one.

Suddenly, as if fate had heard his plea, a small flash of light caught his eye in the distance. He approached it with caution, unsure of whether to trust anything in the dark. It had been covered in the black sands near the ever flowing seas of this Realm, washed over repeatedly, as if it was its rightful place in the ground.

Slowly uncovering the mysterious object, Vanitas started to have a sense of familiarity to the item, as if he'd seen it before. _So familiar, but where do I know this?_ And as the true form of the object was unveiled, he knew exactly what it was.

The Kingdom Key. And he knew what that meant. _Anything that finds its way to this realm is... no.._

No. No way could he be gone. He knew what a Key without its bearer meant. Even Vanitas couldn't beat him, and everyone in the Organisation knew that Xehanort would eventually lose sometime. So what could have happened to him? His brother? The one who delivered the final blow to him?

Vanitas didn't ponder on the matter for long. Not like he cared, right? Sora had tried to kill him, good riddance! The kid who's heart he was stuck inside of for 10 years! Away from his freedom, from escape, from any.. danger or from harm. He had let him stay safe in his heart, regardless of if he knew or not, and Xehanort forcibly bringing him back out after Sora's Mark of Mastery had been one of the greatest pains that he had felt, despite not knowing it at the time. Maybe... maybe he did care. Maybe he liked feeling safe.

He felt a twang of remorse for his words, what he had said, what he had done. His brother, the one who wore his face was... gone. Wait, remorse? No, he was negativity. He couldn't feel regret. He had to be imagining it. Could he really feel other emotions? Maybe he really could change! And maybe his chance was right in.. his hand. Of course, the Kingdom Key, the Key to Light! 

Holding the newly found Key high above his head, he attempted to will the key into doing something. _Come on, anything! Do something already! Is this not how it works? _But no matter how hard he had tried, nothing happened. Maybe he wasn't worth it, the chance to change. Even so, could he know that he even would? He was still filled with such negativity, rage, hatred, anger, sadness, annoyance, did he really think he could change that?

Instantaneously, as if something was once again listening to his struggles, a beam of light erupted from the leaden Key. _The Door to Light? _Had Vanitas caused that? Could this mean that he was worthy of another chance? Thousands of questions ran through his head at this new development, but he didn't have time. He didn't know how long this opportunity would last for. And so he took it. 

He propelled himself forward as fast as his feet could take him, still holding the Kingdom Key in his hand. The light came closer, and closer, and closer, until finally, it enveloped him completely. A harsh, bright light surrounding him, but not hurting him like light would all the times before. He had only one destination in mind, where he knew he had to make his amends. If he truly wanted to alter his past ways, he knew the first person he had to go to. His other half.

As the colours around him started to leak in, he knew where he was. The Land of Departure. He stumbled at the appearance of the ground beneath him, rooting himself to the floor. Flurries of gold, white, green, blue flashed before him in a stunning and startling difference of colours. _Well, at least it's a change from black_, Vanitas declared to himself.

He spun his head around to the sound of footsteps stampeding towards him quickly to see their new arrival. Eraqus' three apprentices: Aqua, with a cold stare on her face, Terra, facing Vanitas with a glare of fury in his eyes, and-

_Ventus..._

Dozens of words formed at the tip of his tongue, but the only ones that he could manage to scrape out in time were-

"Hey, _brother_."

_____

In a vast expanse of the water's edge and the endless clouded sky, a watery figure arose off of the floor, wiping off the non-existent dirt in his translucent, spiked hair. He'd been here before, he knew that. But he couldn't recall anything else. Not his memories, not his location... not even himself. Only one question ran through his mind at that moment:

_Who am I?_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> comments and kudos greatly appreciated!


	2. New Arrival

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ventus reminisces on what has been, the sorrow and the loss, and the present, the new beginnings all around him and wonders whether he can forgive and create a new start for someone else.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> y'alllll thank you so much for all the hits i cannot beliEVE IT AA i just hope i can keep up this shit somehow lmao because i am very bad at plot progression and hopefully i can somewhat create something of eligibility to read

Ventus knows what he's been through. Well, not all of it. But he tries to remember where it started. A shattered heart. A boy in need. Another willing to help.

The Keyblade Graveyard. And how could he forget one of the worst pains he had felt in his life, being shattered into two halves, both light and dark. The man who ruined his life, who ruined all of their lives, smug that his asinine plan would soon come into fruition. Anger, hatred, and... fear. He hated Xehanort with every part of his being, but seeing the one who gave his negativity form made him scared. The ones who fought by his side to face this fear - Aqua and Terra. His close friends who he couldn't stand to be apart from for years.

And yet he'd would have to be after that. The longest decade of his life away from them. Seeing his friends being torn apart from each other so quickly, in such pain! He couldn't bear the thoughts of it, not again. Going through that once was more than enough for him. All he could do was remain in the safety of a hospitable heart and watch. Everyone who came within the near proximity of Xehanort seemed to have the same cruel fate was Ven's take on the matter.

However, he didn't blame Aqua, nor Terra, nor himself (completely) but Xehanort. And more namely, those who stood with him. _Vanitas._

How startled he had been to one of his first sights from awakening was the face of the boy who had saved his heart, near identical to the one that had destroyed it prior. But he hadn't known that the events that would soon happen after would shock him to death.

Seeing Terra's face slowly distort into one more fitting to Xehanort, <strike>a fatal blow to his chest, seeing the light slowly fade from around his vision</strike>, a near miss of a shot blocked by none other than Terra's armour (or was that Terra himself? Ventus didn't completely and fully understand the story from his perspective, but pity and fear denied his request) and his final confrontation with his 'brother'. 

His last confrontation had not been one of complete malice or hatred, no, it had been one of... resignation? The Vanitas he knew 10 years beforehand had not been the same one standing in front of him at that moment, he knew it. His last words to him had always seemed rather strange, that 'all he was was darkness', but had he not wanted to be whole so long ago? Even still, it didn't mean that Ventus had forgiven him in that moment. No, his actions were far from forgivable, the cause of his and his friends' long separation, especially when he had no interest of attempting to apologise. That would always be the last thing he said to him. Nothing more to ever add on.

Or so he thought.

No matter how sad and eventful day they had all spent at the beach had been, when... well, when Kairi returned and someone else didn't, there was one positive thing he could take out of it. Roxas. He had caught a glimpse of him at the final battle, but after, he could actually talk with him! And if he wasn't already persuaded to be friends with him by his amazing looks (in Ventus's opinion), his amicability certainly proved it for him (and he was quite similar to the boy he was always with but never got to know, but he wanted to get to know him as his own person, because everyone deserved that chance to him.)

Roxas turned out to be a great friend, after all. He had even been spending a large part of his time perfecting his skills in spars with Ventus, sometimes Aqua, and maybe even Terra if he felt confident. He had grown close with him, like a brother from another mother. Or in Roxas's case, brother from the person who held his heart and the release of said heart created him. Of course he didn't miss much in 10 years.

4 months had passed since that day on the beach. Since the day that Sora... didn't come back to them. And he hated it. Not the time he had spent with those around him, because he dearly treasured as if it were making up the time they lost, but of who they lost in the process. The one to hold his heart, to harbour it for so long, only for him to fade away into the ocean breeze. If there was any way to get him back or to know where he went, they would have found him. Especially Riku.

Even though he had been the one in his heart all that time, Riku always held a special place in Sora's. To mean so much to someone and then to fade away like that? Ventus hoped that he would never have to experience that pain. 

But they tried anyways. They tried everywhere they could. Everything they could. And it still wasn't enough.

A long 4 months.

Until one day, in the Land of Departure, things suddenly sped up with an unexpected arrival. As Ventus sped out of the door, followed by his friends, he noticed someone standing. His features started to become familiar again to Ventus: the coal-like hair, untamed and wild, the auburn eyes, and the depraved grin upon his face. 

He froze. This couldn't be happening. No. No, no no. Vanitas was gone, he saw it! He had to be dreaming, something, anything! And then, it was true.

"Hey, _brother._"

It was really true. Vanitas was really back. He didn't know why or how but he was back. Both Aqua and Terra's faces hung agape whilst Ventus slowly approached him, not fully comprehending the situation in front of him.

"Is that really you, Vanitas?"

"Who else could it be? Oh, you mean the idiot who stole my face?"

Ventus growled under his breath as Aqua stepped closer to stop Ven from murdering him a third time, based on the look in his eyes.

"I mean, I guess I can see the resemblance now. Especially with _this._" Vanitas smirked as he held the Kingdom Key high above his head. Everyone knew what it was. And who it belonged to. Maybe that was the wrong choice given their hostile reactions.

"Woah, woah, WOAH! Listen up assholes, I didn't come here for a fight!"

"Really? Because it sure feels like you're looking for one!" Ventus retorted, still in awe and thrown by the sudden appearance of the Kingdom Key. That was Sora's keyblade, he knew, they all knew. If Vanitas had found it, did that mean there was still an opportunity that Sora could still be...? "If you aren't here to fight, then why are you here? No, HOW are you here?"

"Beats me. I was just wandering the eternal darkness after my defeat, as you do, when I saw something familiar on the shore and what do you know? Next thing I knew, I was surrounded by light and then surrounded by idiots. Any other questions?"

"Still doesn't answer why you're here." Terra inquired cautiously. He didn't exactly know Sora on a personal level but he knew that his fate was saved when he intervened, and he would be eternally grateful for that. 

"Now that's the thing. I felt something recently that wasn't negative. Gave me this crazy idea that I could change my ways of only darkness, huh?"

"Bit late for that, isn't it?" Aqua snapped.

"Shut it, water girl." As Aqua's glare intensified, Vanitas continued, "Huh, guess I don't feel sorry for _that_ one. That's nothing new, though."

Ventus was offended, pissed off, and slightly confused. Wasn't Vanitas supposed to only be darkness and negativity? If he said that he felt something else, does that mean he could have some light in him? He certainly knew himself that he had some darkness, so the assumption of the opposite wouldn't be totally out of the blue...

"When you said you felt something, what was it? And why?"

"Oh, more questions. Great." Vanitas sighed. "I was thinking back to our last fight, and whilst a lot of it was anger, and rightfully so, I felt a bit of... regret. The same thing happened when I saw this thing on the shore," He shook the Kingdom Key in his hand. "and I knew what it meant. That kid did keep me safe for a while, so I have to be somewhat grateful for that, so knowing that he's gone... Maybe I was just surprised, that's all."

Ventus gathered his friends beside him, in slight privacy out of Vanitas' earshot. "I think, just maybe, he might be telling the truth." In response to their joint startled unintelligible noises, he quickly spluttered, "Just think about it! We've given a lot of other people new chances, so why can't we give Vanitas one? I can't explain it, but something tells me that he might actually be capable of changing his ways. Can we just see what he wants? Please?"

They tried to put up a fight, but Aqua and Terra's resigned sigh indicated to Ven that he was allowed to continue his little interrogation, and surprisingly, his culprit remained in his place. "Listen Vanitas, I know you came here for something. If you hadn't, then you wouldn't have stayed this long here. You said that you might be able to change your ways. If you want, we can give you a chance. But know this: if you betray us once or make one wrong move at us, then it's over for you. Got it?"

Ven reached out his hand towards Vanitas in hopes of an agreement, and to his surprise, Vanitas's reluctant hand crept slowly towards it. Ven knew that he was capable of change if he was willing to make that start. Now all he needed was someone to help.

"This doesn't mean we forgive you for the things you've done, but if you're truly open-minded to this new start, then we'll let you make up for it."

"Alright asswipe, I got it. No being mean to Venty-Wenty and his little companions or I get it."

"Vanitas..." Ventus growled. And for a second, he thought he could see a slight glimpse of actual regret on Vanitas' face. As they ventured back into the castle along with their new arrival, there was one thing they forgot about. Or namely, one _person_.

Roxas had been visiting Ven today. In fact, he was just with him a few moments ago before he rushed outside. He could hear his conversation in a nearby room he was having on his Gummiphone, likely to one of his other friends.

However, as soon as Roxas caught a glance of Vanitas, the echoing clang of the dropped Gummiphone resounded throughout the spacious halls.

_"Hey Roxas? You still there? Helloooo?" _Ven could hear a girl's voice, presumably Xion's.

In the smallest of whispers yet still audibly, Roxas spoke.

"Why do you have Sora but he's edgy?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i have absolutely no clue where i'm taking this lmao but i'm gonna try and get more characters involved for the Plot™
> 
> comments and kudos greatly appreciated!


	3. Frayed Ends

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Vanitas wants to figure out how to redeem himself in his brothers' eyes and what he's going to do next.  
Some want to know why he's wearing a familiar face. And some won't stop until they find Sora.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i'm sorry if these are coming in at weird intervals i'm garbagé at time management but hope you guys are enjoying it so far! i'm still debating on how long to make this whole fic but right now i'm amazed at how many hits this has so far and thank you all so much!!! ok i'll shut up now lmao

Oh boy. This was gonna take some explaining to do.

If it was difficult for them to begin to explain why Roxas looked like Ventus, then this was going to be a nightmare.

"Roxas, buddy, I'm gonna need you to calm down a bit." Ventus exclaimed to the panicking boy besides him. He thought it was a somewhat reasonable reaction to seeing the face of his Other, the face of the boy who's absence spanned for 4 months now, just slightly askew. Yeah, this was reasonable.

Roxas, after quickly ending his call without another word on his dropped Gummiphone in total shock, started to slowly approach Vanitas with a combination of fear, curiosity, hope, and joy. "Is it really you, Sora?" Roxas spoke gently with a shaky voice, so unlike the confident person Ven had grown to know. "Are you really... back?" 

"No, asshole, I'm not that sunshine idiot. And would you mind your business? You are _way_ too close right now."

As Aqua scolded him for his brash language and Terra looked on with a disapproving stare, Ventus slowly guided Roxas into a smaller room. He would need to explain this. "Okay, Roxas, just take a deep breath and sit down. I'll explain everything."

"I'm counting on you for that, Ven." He pleaded, wondering who this somewhat aggressive not-Sora was, why he wore his face, why he was here.

"Okay," Ven sighed, "so when Xehanort had found me, my heart was cracked. I don't remember anything before that, or that part really. What I do remember is being saved by a kid who helped heal my heart. But I had the darkness in my heart that was later taken by Xehanort to form Vanitas, but part of my heart was still connected to Sora. So I guess my connection to Sora is why Vanitas looks like that. Is that okay?"

"You just said a lot of words and only half of them made sense. But I think I kinda got it... So that's not Sora?"

"Unfortunately, no. We fought Vanitas at the Keyblade Graveyard and I saw him fade away with my own eyes... But now he's back and he wants to change, so we're going to give him that chance."

"Wait, so you're saying this guy stood with Xehanort, tried to kill you, and now you trust him? Are you alright, Ven?" Roxas exclaimed loudly.

"The killing thing on several occasions, yes, but we have to! I don't know how to explain it, but something really tells me that he's changed now and we can be the people to help him change for the better. If we don't give him this opportunity, how will we ever know if he's really being honest with us? Roxas, you of all people should know something about second chances, especially to the people who tried to have you killed in the past!"

After catching up on 10 years of missed news previously, it would be an understatement to say that Ventus was bewildered.

"...Fine. I'm only doing this because I trust you, Ven. I don't want to see you get hurt, especially by that asshole over there... He just looked so much like..."

"I know. We all miss him. And we tried," shuddered Ventus, "but it's been 4 months and we've searched everywhere we could. There's no traces of him."

As Roxas and Ven shared a melancholy moment in sadness for the person who had saved them both, their _brother, _as Vanitas would put it, something clicked inside of Ventus. _No traces... Wait!_

"OH! Ohhhhh!" Ven spluttered as Roxas looked in alarm at the sudden shocking noise coming from the partially panicking boy. Well, he was either panicking, falling apart, or becoming hysterical. He was saying something, but as hard as he tried, Roxas couldn't decipher his incomprehensible mumbles to himself.

In a flash, Ventus grabbed ahold of Roxas's arm and hurriedly tugged him along towards the reprimanded Vanitas and the slightly disappointed Terra and marginally angered Aqua. Roxas's yelps of panic didn't faze Ventus one bit as he was determined to get to his destination no matter what with his newly found revelation.

"Roxas? Ven? What's going on? Why is Ven freaking out, is everything alright?" Aqua asked in the most gentle voice she could muster, in order not to startle them.

"Ven, are you alright?" Inquired Terra, slightly starting to worry at the sight of the muttering Ventus.

"Sora! Keyblade! Heart! Vanitas! Find! " He squealed in excitement, not fully explaining any of his words.

"Calm down, would you?" Vanitas huffed, obviously annoyed. He wasn't one for waiting around for some idiot to splutter out their words. "What are you saying?"

As Ven took a deep breath and maintained his composure, he began. "So you all know how we can't find Sora anywhere? No matter where we look, there's no traces of him?" At their saddened faces, he took that as a confirmation. (Even Vanitas wore a mournful look on his face.) "Well, we finally found one! Vanitas!"

At the mention of his name, everyone looked at him in confusion. "Uhh, yeah, he looks like him, but what's your point?" Queried Roxas, still somewhat breathless from their hectic movements.

"No. Well, yes, but not just that. He has the Kingdom Key, Sora's keyblade. That means he's still tethered to this realm somehow, and Vanitas could be the link! Maybe we have a shot at finding him!" Ven finished rapidly in a flourish of words.

To prove this claim, Vanitas once again summoned the keyblade he had been holding previously. The sight of it made Roxas's jaw go agape as he stared at the familiar blade. It was really true. And this meant that his heart still had connections. Searching for Sora had been difficult for all of them. No matter how hard they tried to follow their hearts to him, nothing happened. It was always just a dead end. That day on the beach had felt like all connections to Sora had been cut off by some malicious exterior force. Like he had just... disappeared.

This was new. Could it be true? Was it just another dead end that they would have to follow, only to be discouraged like all the times before. Well, only one way to find out.

"Vanitas, if this is true, and I really hope it is," Roxas shared to Vanitas with his contemplative look, "would you actually be willing to work with us to find Sora and bring him back? And if so, can we trust you to help us?"

With this newfound information, Vanitas didn't know what to feel. Finally, he would be able to make them suffer in agony with the absence of Sora, and Vanitas held the cards in this situation. Or in this case, he held the keyblade. But... he couldn't help but remember what he felt on that shore. Knowing that he was gone, the person who protected him. He may have been negativity, but he still had some honour. He wanted to repay his actions. He wanted to change.

"Well, Vanitas? You said you wanted to prove yourself as not just negativity. You gonna take this chance?" Aqua doubtfully demanded. He had caused her a lot of pain, all of them. But she couldn't deny someone who wanted to prove themselves.

"Alright, fine." He scoffed. "It seems you morons can't do anything, so I'll help."

Despite his harsh words, everyone in the room shared a moment of glee at the prospect of getting Sora back after 4 long months.

"Well, if we're going to get started, it can't just be the five of us. We're going to need help." Terra bluntly stated. "Roxas, if you would do the honours?"

"Gladly." Roxas smirked, once again picking up his Gummiphone to call for reinforcements in their search. They had finally found a trace of Sora, and they were going to find him.

\---

Riku was heartbroken. Literally. The day that he had to watch Sora fade away in front of him, helplessly unable to stop it, he had felt like his heart had been shattered.

_"Kairi!" Riku shouted, his feet picking him up as fast as they could to the papou tree. He was just there, where did he go?! As he approached Kairi quickly but with caution, he pleaded, "Kairi, are you alright? Where's Sora, what happened?" . All Kairi could do was weep as she was the only one who at that moment knew what had happened to Sora. No matter how hard she tried to say anything else, every time she tried to open her mouth, she only ended up crying even more._

_At her extreme reaction and her inability to speak, Riku knew what the severity of the situation was. And what had happened to Sora. Hearing the soft thuds of footsteps rushing on the wooden bridge behind him, all he did was shake his head at them as a few tears spilled from his eyes. He was gone._

After a few days to process and mourn the events of that day, Kairi had finally been able to say what had happened.

_"I was alone," she sniffed, "and in the dark. I didn't know where I was but I knew I wasn't safe. After Xehanort struck me down, I was stuck somewhere. I don't remember for how long but..."_

_"Hey, Kairi, it's alright, you don't have to tell me anything you don't want to." Riku reassured her._

_"No, it's OK. I can get through this." She exhaled slowly. "I was so afraid in there. I could feel the darkness eating away at my light. If it was that powerful to do that to a Princess of Heart, then I don't know how Sora managed to find me. After a while, I could see something in the distance getting closer. It was Sora. He had come to save me, but I didn't know the cost. The only thing I remember after that is sitting on the papou tree on the island, watching the sunset, and he whispered to me that he... that he was sorry."_

_"It's OK now, Kairi. You're safe." He muttered closely to her, clutching her in a tight embrace to remind her of his presence._

_"Did he know?" She wavered shakily, "Did he know what would happen to him if he came for me?"_

_As much as Riku wanted to deny her claim, he knew he couldn't. He remembered back to Young Xehanort's final words, directed to Sora, that his time was limited. And he remembered his unusual stoic silence after, even when Riku wanted to ask. Something was wrong with Sora, was offset at his words. Had he really not been lying?_

_"I think... I think he knew he was going to fade, one way or another. He chose to spend the remainder of his time left saving you, but he was going to vanish anyways." Of course. No matter what, Sora always put his friends in front of his own needs. Even at his own stake._

After Kairi's recollection, everyone was informed of Sora's fate and what he had done through their Gummiphones. Everyone had their own ways of grieving their losses, but Riku...

Riku had probably taken the heaviest hit. Everyone knew how close they were, an unbreakable unit. Well, slightly more breakable now with Sora's absence. And it showed. Almost each of his waking moments had been spent searching every world imaginable for him as he was the very first to suggest the search. They all split up their divided efforts, some into groups and some individually, constantly changing. Everyone had their own motivations and connections to Sora but Riku...

Riku had loved him, with all his heart. He had always had his little ways of showing it: the slight smile that was reserved for him and him only, the warmth inside he had felt in his heart when he was with him, everything they had done together. And Sora always found his own ways of reciprocating it.

No matter where they searched, how hard they searched, they could find nothing. Only Sora's countless friends he had made across his travels, but nothing directly related to the boy himself, which had crushed Riku. He couldn't feel that warmth inside his heart any longer, as no matter how far he searched, there was no trace.

The cruel twist of fate that had done this to him wouldn't be as merciful as that, to give him any hope.

He couldn't rest, no break in his search, not whilst Sora could be out there, suffering or hurt or alone or-!

"Riku!" Kairi snapped, startling Riku out of his thoughts.

"Huh? What is it, Kai?"

"Have you not even been listening to me?! You need to get some rest, please."

"No. No, not while Sora-"

"I know. Trust me, I know. I want nothing more than to find him, but we can't do that if you're working yourself to the bone! You know he would hate to see you like this."

As Riku protested, Kairi sighed, knowing she had all but one option left.

"_Sleep._" As a wave of exhaustion washed over him and as she watched Riku drop to the ground with a thud, she reassured herself that it was for the best. She cared about him a lot, and she herself hated to seem him paranoid and tired. She cared about both of them a lot...

It wouldn't be wrong to say that Kairi blamed herself for Sora's fate. Maybe if he hadn't have gone after her one last time, he would be here, teasing Riku playfully and joking alongside her. What if he wasn't going to fade anyways? What if it was just that one final time that was what caused it? He could have been safe if it wasn't for her!-

No. She knew better than to think of that. No more what if's. She had done her best then, but she was getting better now. That's why she had started to train with Xion and Roxas in Twilight Town. Mainly Xion, as she knew that Roxas had wanted to spend some time with Ventus, but it was a great chance for her to get to know her better. She reminded her so much of Sora, but in a familiar sense. She was so close with her, and with Namine, who had stayed and lived with Kairi and consoled her after.

It was like the family she never knew she had, but was so grateful to have now. As she reminisced on her friends, she was reminded about the sleeping Riku on the floor of her house where he was visiting quickly by the small snoring sounds. _Finally, he can get some rest. I know he's not going to be happy about this, but it's for his own good! _She pondered as she fetched some cushions and blankets for her couch where she could drag Riku onto. Hopefully.

She knew how much Sora's disappearance affected everyone. Aqua and Terra, the two people who's ten year suffering was put to an end by him. Axel, no, Lea, the person who saved him in return for his newfound life. Namine, the girl who had been promised a show of gratitude. Ventus, Roxas, and Xion, those closely connected to him by his heart and its safety (and she knew how it was to be in there, even if it was for a shorter time than them). Herself, the one who had been saved countless times by him from the Organisation (and it was her turn now to pay him back!), and Riku.

As a Princess of Heart, she could feel emotions radiating off of people's hearts very faintly, but with Riku, it was always a strong wave of loss from him after that day. Before, when they had been a trio all together, she knew it was love from both of them whenever they hung out. Sora had felt love towards Kairi, but they both knew it was a platonic, best-friend love. With Riku and Sora, both of their hearts sung in glee in their near proximity.

She wanted to see her friend happy again. She wanted to see that warmth inside him glow once more. It was her time to save him. Or so she thought.

No matter where she looked, with her eyes or her heart, she couldn't feel any sort of trail left by him. Nowhere. He had disappeared to save her, to save everyone! It didn't matter if he knew it would happen or not, both Riku and Kairi (and all of Sora's friends) would stop at nothing to bring him back.

But after so long of trying and no results, they could feel it getting under their skin. They all knew that one day they would lose hope, and that day would grow closer with every passing moment, but they still didn't stop. Especially Riku.

After a few more weeks of searching and to no avail, Kairi persuaded Riku to visit Namine at her house. They too had become good friends, accelerated by Sora's lengthy year asleep. Both Kairi and Riku flopped onto the nearest available soft surface after tirelessly searching for the whole day.

"Hey guys! How are you both doing?" Namine whispered in her small voice, wary of both of their tired visages.

Both Kairi and Riku grumbled in unison to reassure Namine that they were fine. "If you say so!" She giggled. "I'm really sorry I can't be of more help to the search, I promise I'm trying my hardest here though! I'm still reaching out to any memories I can!"

"It's alright, Namine, you're doing more than enough to help, honestly." Riku groaned as he sat himself upright. "Any luck on your front?"

"Well, it is news, but I don't think it's exactly good."

"What do you mean by tha-"

As Riku was about to finish his question, he was rudely interrupted by the jingle of Kairi's Gummiphone blaring in her pocket. As she patted her dishevelled hair down, she answered the call to be greeted by none other than Roxas. 

"Hey, Roxas! How are you doing? How's Ven and Terra and Aqua?" She greeted him cheerfully, despite her tired demeanour.

"I'm doing good, actually, I'm doing great! We have some news and I think it's best if you come over and hear it in person. You should bring everyone else over too, I'm calling all the others as well!"

"Wait, what is this about?"

"It's about Sora."

At the mere reference to Sora's name, Riku shot up, disregarding any form of fatigue he had before. Budging in closely to Kairi, he stared at the Gummiphone and declared: "We'll be there in 10."

"See you guys in a bit."

Kairi thought about it. _It was about Sora? And he said that he's doing great? _ She debated in her head. But, she didn't have much time, as she soon found herself having to chase after Riku who immediately bolted out of the door to the hidden Gummiship. They had tried to hide it somewhere hidden and concealed, but no-one other than they went to the Play Island, so it was the perfect place.

Namine's mention of news still echoed in her head like a broken record. _If she has bad news, and he has some good, I really hope this outcome is gonna be good. _None of them could stand Sora's absence any longer, and it was time that they took a step closer to him.

As Riku reached the Gummiship, followed by a wheezing Namine being hauled by an out of breath Kairi, there were no more words. Just a destination. _The Land of Departure._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i did not expect it to be that long but i hope you guys liked it! i'm really enjoying writing this and now that i've got this chapter out of the way i think the plot is going to be kind of defined from now? i'll try anyways but thank you so much for reading! any suggestions or anticipations for any particular character interactions (because i've already started planning a certain few >:D )
> 
> comments and kudos greatly appreciated!


	4. Another Hope

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Everyone reconvenes at the Land of Departure to hear their news, but their joy might be short lived with some news. So they'll have to find their joy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i am so sorry to anyone still reading this that 1) you have to still read this and 2) thats it's taken so long for me to postt aaaaaAAA but anyways some of these chapters might be a bit longer but hope you have fun reading this one!

Riku was nervous to say the least. Scared, a little bit, joyous, very much so, but mainly nervous. They had news about Sora and they wanted them to _see_ it? He wasn't exactly sure how to take that. He's never been one to be so expecting of others, but he really needed some good news. He wasn't sure what he'd do without some soon.

The ride on the Gummiship was filled with quiet whispers between Namine and Kairi, but Riku was dead silent. Kairi knew that when he was like this, he could only have one thing on his mind, and nothing would stop him. Silent looks passed between Namine and Kairi yet they were filled with words, not wanting to alert Riku of their worry and concern.

"Hey, uh, Riku? Bud? You good? You haven't really said... anything..." Kairi uttered, not wanting to disturb him from his stony demeanour and obvious brooding. All he replied with was a singular grunt, attempting to reaffirm the girls.

"No, I'm gonna need a bit more than that. Riku, you have to talk to us! You haven't said anything since the house and we're worried!"

As he sighed deeply, letting out a breath he didn't know he was holding, he slowly turned and murmured, "I'm sorry, guys. It's just... we haven't had anything on Sora for months, and now out of the blue, they have news? What if it's bad? What if something's happened to him and we can't get him back? What if it's just... nothing?"

Namine, still unsure on how to approach the issue at hand, blurted, "What if it's something _good_?!"

As both of the other passengers turned to look at her, she realised what she had said abruptly but continued, "Listen, Riku, I'm sorry. We all miss him so much, most of all you, but you have to stop doing that. You have to stop assuming the worst! You know how tough Sora is, he's probably back and waiting for you! Please, Riku... have some hope. Have some faith in him."

Kairi's astonished and Riku's shocked faces both spoke thousands of words but Riku spoke slowly, breaking the newly found silence. "...You're right. I'm so sorry, Namine. I've just been so scared about him. I know I've lost him before, but I knew that he was still alright then, and I knew where he was. This time, it's completely different. I don't even know if he's still... I miss him so much. I know he's strong, but he's alone, and I hate just thinking about it. If they have news... we don't even know what to expect."

Carrying on with Riku's words, Kairi gently confessed, "We're all scared, Riku. But you know that we're here for you and we want you to talk to us about how you feel. I hate seeing you worry like this. Any news we get, no matter bad or good or big or small, it's gonna narrow it down and help us find him. You know that sooner or later, we'll find that lazy-bum and drag his ass back home!"

At Kairi's reassuring speech, he found himself laughing. _Huh,_ Kairi thought, _that's the first time I've heard him laugh in months._

"Thanks, Kairi, Namine. I needed that."

"No problem." Namine let out a small smile, "Oh, hey, before I forget, about that news I had earlier-"

But before she could even finish, they heard a small alert from their navigation system. "Looks like we're here. Sorry, Namine, you were saying?" But at the universe's denial of what she was saying, she decided to leave it.

Upon the Gummiship's arrival, a wide and vast array of colours came into view. Glistening green mounds piled over one another in the distance and minuscule ferns atop of them, with mighty cliffs replacing the majority of the view. The sky was as clear as ever, a pale blue filled the space above, with no hints of white hindering the picturesque scene. And at the centre of it all, an floating ivory and marble castle, towering over the scenery, strong and tall. It had chains connecting to all of the surrounding islands, reminding Namine of...

"Hey, are you alright? You look kinda tense." Kairi nudged her gently, snapping her out of wondering thoughts.

"Hmm? Oh, I'm fine. It's just... it reminds me too much of..."

"Hey, hey, it's alright, I'm here. No one will hurt you, here or ever again. You got that?"

A small hum escaped her throat as she attempted to slow her breathing down, but she let out a small gasp when she felt a hand wrap around her own, grounding her. "You can hold my hand if it makes you feel safe?"

"Thanks, Kairi." She whispered as a smile spread across her face.

As the rumble of the Gummiship's engine came to a halt as they reached the ground, they were met with a welcoming party of familiar faces: Aqua, Terra, Ventus.

After dismounting, they had noticed that Terra and Aqua's brows had been furrowed, and Ven's face was filled with anxiety and distress.

"What's going on, is everything alright?" Kairi hesitantly asked.

"I think it's best if you guys follow us to see this." Aqua spoke with a stern inflection in her words, directed to something or someone else.

With an agreeing nod between the three visitors, the six of them rushed off ahead, indicating the emergency of this new discovery to them. As they cautiously navigated the castle with haste, swerving past walls and obstructions to get to their destination as quick as they could. This had to be important, but all it said to Riku was that something had happened. All he had to do was wait and see if it was good or bad.

As they came to a finish of their long run around the spacious halls, they had finally reached a room. The doors creaked open as they were slowly pushed forwards to reveal that in the middle of the room was a mildly agitated Roxas with-

_Sora._

The very sight of his lost love made his heart lurch and his feet pick up as he wrapped his arms around him, only to be met with a shove and a disgruntled yelp of annoyance.

"Hey, asshole, watch it! What do you think you're doing?!"

At the sound of the distorted voice, Riku stepped back in alarm. The darkened body suit that coated him like another layer. The untamed, wild, ebony locks, identical to Sora's, flaring upon his head. Above the reflective metal jaw piece that framed his face, instead of the sky-blue eyes he was so used to seeing, he was met with red-auburn stained and discoloured hues glaring daggers into his heart. He wore a disgruntled expression, so unlike the normal cheery demeanour that always lit up the space around it. No, no, no. This wasn't Sora. This wasn't _his Sora!_ And Riku wanted to know who this imposter was. 

Kairi could feel the emotions that Riku had at that moment, and so intensely too. The hatred, disgust at this person who even dared to mimic him, but so much sadness and fear and longing. She knew how much he wanted Sora back, so the new appearance to them both had felt like a punch to the gut.

He drew his Keyblade and entered his fighting stance immediately after realising his mistake, retreating to Kairi, who had summoned hers already, prepared to fight this imposter, wary and cautious of his appearance. _Guess this was the news._

At the sight of both of their weapons and the infuriated and betrayed looks they both donned, Vanitas barely flinched and shrugged off the dangers presented to him, right in front of him, whilst Roxas stepped in and cried out, "Wait! Wait, wait, wait, hold up! I know how this looks, but you need to relax! This is Vanitas, and yeah, it's a bit startling, but he does look like Sora."

"Pff, yeah, no shit there, bud." Vanitas declared matter-of-factly, proving once and for all to the newly arrived trio that this was not the boy that they missed.

Roxas growled slightly but persevered, "I know exactly how this looks, but if we just put our weapons down, we can explain everything to you."

After a long conversation with tension crackling in the air, they knew who Vanitas was. And it didn't do anything to assuage his doubts, seeing the still cautious and dubious looks upon everyone's faces whilst clarifying their convoluted story. "So now we know why he looks like Sora, and what he's _done,_", Riku accused, "but what does that have to do with Sora now?"

"Well, this is kinda what we wanted to show you. Vanitas, if you would?" Ven asked politely, hoping not to agitate him, but somehow angering him more.

"Sure, I'll just do whatever Venty-Wenty here wants and all you other idiots of Light want." Despite his complaints, he still complied and summoned a Keyblade. _Sora's Keyblade... But how does he have it? What does this mean? _Kairi wondered and gasped in bewilderment at the glistening weapon alongside everyone else, still keeping a safe distance.

To the new arrivals, Vanitas began to explain, "I was in the Realm of Darkness when I saw something in the sands at the shore."

"Wait, me and Sora were once there. After our fight with Xemnas, we ended up there and we sat at those shores together."

"Yeah, yeah, how nice. I really hope that's why it was there, because you know what it means if that's not the case." Vanitas stated bluntly, attempting not to show his caring through his insensitive words. Wouldn't want anyone to know how much he really cared about that kid, would he? "When I picked it up, there was this glowing stuff that appeared, so I ran into it, and for once the Light didn't hurt me. It was new, just like I had felt new feelings before..."

Riku whispered to himself, "He was always my light in the darkness."

Despite his best efforts, Vanitas managed to still hear and comment, "Touching. Real heartwarming." In response to Riku's pissed off death glares directed at him, he deflected, "There's a reason I'm here. Maybe I don't wanna be _just_ darkness, you know? Maybe I wanna change. And as much as I hate to say it... I need all of your help. And I wanna help." He muttered, trailing off at the end at the hopes of being out of earshot.

"I think he deserves this chance. Sora always saw the best in everyone, no matter what. I think... I think he'd also give him this chance." Ventus quickly announced, at the hopes of a preemptive retaliation to their protests.

Riku, Kairi, and Namine all stared at each other, still mulling over whether to trust this boy, familiar in so many ways and yet somehow so different. Their glances indicated to silent conversation between the trio. Could they all trust him? Could they all really be near him, knowing that Sora was most likely out there somewhere, alone and afraid?

To alleviate all of their worries, Terra chimed in, "If anything happens or if he tries to hurt us again, we'll make sure he won't get another chance to again." Everyone looked dumbfounded at this claim, even Vanitas, but it certainly helped the trio on deciding where they'd go from there. If Terra was that sure, then they would be sure too.

Coming to a unanimous agreement between them, they turned to face the other and announce their verdict. "We'll trust him. But if he tries _anything_-" Kairi cautioned.

"Yeah, yeah, I got the memo." Vanitas interrupted. Even he had been stunned by Terra's proclamation.

Aqua, quickly trailing off from the previous topics, informed the others on what they thought their news meant. "We think that if Vanitas has Sora's Keyblade and can use it, maybe his heart is still connected to this Realm. Maybe we can follow that connection to him and bring him back. We all owe it to him."

At the despondent faces of everyone in the room, they realised the truth to her words. Sora had helped every single one of them, in little ways or more. If putting their trust into Vanitas meant having a real chance at locating him, then they'd have to take that risk.

"Seems that I don't really have a choice here. Looks like I'm your only shot."

"So you really will help us?" Ven exclaimed, finally happy at some good news in their search. At Vanitas's disgusted face but a slight form of acceptance, he felt as though his heart had gotten rid of the chains dragging it down into its misery.

"We'll head to Radiant Garden in the morning. We can meet up with the others there and hopefully, the apprentices can give us some answers about your heart, Vanitas." Riku declared, deciding their first action into their newly found hopeful search.

"Oh, _sure_, don't ask the guy you wanna do your tests on, no, that's fine!" Vanitas accused, once again seeming to still accept it, not outwardly going against his rulings.

"Sounds like a plan. Are you alright with this, Vanitas?" Ven asked cautiously, remembering to ask of his opinion on the matter concerning him. However, all he had in response was a simple shrug and grunt. Looks like everything was set for them. But for now, realising that it was nearing the evening, they had all needed to get some rest after their long and brain-aching day.

"If you guys want, you can stay here for the night. We have some spare rooms and there'd be no point in you going all the way back, if you guys are alright with that?" Aqua politely offered her guests. She had never actually known why there were so many rooms. When she was younger, she had always asked Eraqus so many questions ever so curiously, but all she ever got was one response. _Patience now, young Aqua. I can tell you when you are older. _Guess she wan't going to be finding out anytime soon, not with her newly departed Master. She was the new Master of this castle, taking up the mantle, with little guidance, but she'd have to find her way through it.

"Thank you ever so much, Aqua," Namine responded in a faint voice, barely audible, "but would it be alright if Kairi and I shared a room?". Namine had been to scared to sleep in a room alone ever since she had started living at Kairi's house. She had hated feeling alone for all that time, every second of it. The more time they had spent together, they had felt more like sisters to one another, the sister that they had never had. If she had felt alone and scared by herself back home, in this castle, it would be a nightmare for her.

"Absolutely, Namine. Whatever makes you feel comfortable."

With a nod of confirmation from Kairi, they had set off behind Aqua to be guided to their room and get ready for the night. "Vanitas, you can sleep in the room next to mine. That way, I can keep an eye on you and if you need me, I'll be right next door." Ven prompted, hoping he'd take his offer-not-offer.

In response to this, Vanitas was shocked. He had literally tried to murder him in the past! And yet he would offer _him _this, so close to him? How stupid was he? A shared look between Terra and Roxas, standing side to side near Vanitas showed him that it wasn't just him that heard this insane gesture, and other people thought it was crazy too. "Ven, are you sure? He has hurt you in the past. Recently, as well. Are you sure you trust him enough to do this?" Roxas inquired, unsure of what thoughts Ven was thinking to come up with such a preposterous suggestion.

"We're giving him a chance to change, right? Maybe this is the best way to prove that he's willing to take it."

What a stupid thought. So caring and trusting blindly. Did he not care what might happen to him? The risks of having someone like him right there? Could he trust himself not to take that chance? Could he actually... try? "Alright," Vanitas responded, "I can do that. If you're willing to trust me... I guess I should return that, huh?"

With Roxas and Terra warily agreeing with a promise of protection, Vanitas followed Ventus to the room next to his. "You know, Vanitas, I really want to trust you. I really believe that you can change. Please don't prove me wrong, for your sake and mine." Vanitas didn't realise just how much Ven was putting on the line for his new chance. He was putting the trust of this friends, all of his friends, his newfound happiness with them and their safety. He furrowed his shadowy brows deeply in thought, in appreciation. All of him wanted to doubt it, to discard it, to just say that he didn't care and that he can take his generosity and all that crap and move along but that would be a lie. A small part of him fought against it, deep in his heart. He had felt... trusted. Cared for. That was new as well.

"...Thanks. I know it's hard for you, but... I'll try." Vanitas grumbled deeply.

To respond to this slight display of appreciation, Ven let out a giant smile at him. "You know, if you want, we can get you some new clothes. How long have you been wearing that bodysuit? It must be kinda uncomfortable now..."

"That isn't relevant. But, uh, out of curiosity... what clothes do you have?"

"I think you'll like what we have. It's similar to what you're wearing right now, so it'll be familiar and it should fit so I'll try and find them by the morning."

"Wait, that doesn't really tell me mu-". But those were Ven's departing words, off to go find the aforementioned clothes. "Alright, guess I'll find out soon enough, no thanks to him."

He thought back to what Ven had said to him, about how much he had risked for him, and how it made him feel. It gave him a strange warmth in his heart, like something he hadn't felt, comforting, welcoming, gentle, protective-

But to snap him out of his reverie, he spotted something on the floor. _An unversed_. He began to panic. They weren't gonna be happy if they found one of these, here, of course he could still make them, why wouldn't he, his chance would be over before it had even started! But as he looked closer and calmed down, he noticed that something was different. This was like nothing that he had ever created before. It had the appearance of a flood, but instead of being an incarnation of negativity, it radiated a warm glow about it. It was a pastel cream colour, with the unversed symbol emblazoned on the back, darting around, but he could tell that it wasn't negative.

Could it be that he created something new? Something out of... _positivity_? 

He wasn't very sure on everything except for one thing; if they found that now, they'd destroy it, and soon after, him. He'd have to destroy it himself, it was the only way that he knew that the unversed could be disposed of. He attempted to calm himself down so he could get his thoughts straight, but as he did, the unversed slowly crept towards him, flicking its head from side to side. He inhaled deeply, and as he opened his eyes, the unversed was gone. He felt... lighter.

What had he done? Had he recalled the unversed? Had he learned to... absorb it? Huh. He was learning so many new things, new emotions about himself. But that was enough for today. He was so tired. Emotionally, physically, mentally, he wasn't sure how much more he could take, especially with the idiots of Light.

Without another thought, his limbs stopped working and he flopped onto the bed, finally getting some peace, quiet, and relaxation.

And he dreamed of a place where the sky reached the sea.

\---

There wasn't much to see where Sora was. The first thing his eyes looked upon as he awoke was the endless cobalt sky, spanning on for eternities. It was beautiful, although he didn't really have much to compare it to. All he had was a sense of familiarity, a longing, and a lack of memories.

He didn't know where he was, how he was here, or who he was.

As he arose, he thought about the answer to all of these answers. But none came. So he'd have to go and find them, wherever he was. However, standing up felt so unnatural to him, as the only surface that was available to him was a thin strip of water, seemingly composed of the same thing he was.

After a cautious examination, he deemed it safe to stand on. Along with all of the thoughts running through his head, he was met with a very sudden head rush. He wasn't very sure how it was possible, what with how he was structured, but it was very real to him.

He hadn't had many options on what he would do next or what he wanted to do next. So he walked. And walked. Every once in a while, he could have sworn that he could see something in the horizon, glistening and glinting, but as quick as he noticed it, it disappeared. So he walked.

He didn't know how long he walked for in the endless expanse as he never became tired or lethargic, but he knew it was a long time. 

There were times when he'd stare at the water's reflection, at himself and the sky, and a fraction of a memory flashed by, barely holding on. He could never focus on them for too long. Those were the only times that he'd really get tired, and he'd rest on the aqueous surface for a while. However long a while was. 

He could only be sure about very few things: he was here, and he had some semblance of a physical form. Any time he attempted to speak, nothing came. It was only when he thought to himself that he could hear the echoes around him of his own voice. 

After walking for such a long time, he once again glimpsed the glittering in the distance. However, unlike all the times before, it remained. It was real.

He ran as fast as he could to it to hopefully examine it, to finally see what this place had to offer. As he approached cautiously, he was able to hear another faint echoing of another person's voice. He wasn't alone.

_Hello? Is anyone there? _He thought, attempting to hide any fear that might have been stowed away in his voice.

_You're back! But how come? Are you alright? _A young voice responded, somehow seeming to come from the cluster of white specks in front of him, forming a star shape.

_I'm sorry, do I know you? I'm... not really sure how I got here and I can't remember anything._

_Oh... I'm sorry to hear that. I can tell you that you've been here before, and that we've met. My name is Strelitzia._

_Nice to meet you, Strelitzia! How... how did you get here? Do you remember? And why are you in that form? _Sora inquired in a polite manner.

_I've been here a long time. The last thing I remember is falling onto the floor, being attacked, their face hidden. I had a life, a brother, and it was all gone, just like that. The next thing I know, I'm here, in this form, all alone._

_I'm so sorry. That must have been really hard for you. _Sora mused, so upset that something like this could even happen. _I'm sure your brother misses you a great deal._

_I think the only thing tethering me to this place is his light and hope for me. That's what allows me to retain this form. To have a form like yours, you must have a great deal of people missing you, a lot of light reserved for you._

_...You really think so? Because... I can't remember any of them. I can't remember anything. No matter how hard I try, it slips away, like a far off memory._

_As long as their light is with you, I'm sure you'll find a way back to them. But now, you have to move on. You have to keep on walking forward, closer to home. _Strelitzia knew that he would have to leave her and find his way back home. It wouldn't be easy, but she had a feeling that he could do it.

_Are you sure you're alright with me leaving you? You'll be alone again._

_It's what has to be done. Besides, you'll always be with me in my heart. We're friends, right?_

_Of course._ Sora whispered, feeling a sense of familiarity behind the words. _Thank you so much, Strelitzia. I really hope that one day, you'll be free._

And so he walked on, towards the edge of where the sky met the sea, every step closer. So he walked.

He knew it had been a long while, once again, since meeting (again?) Strelitzia, his only method of parsing any sense of time passing. He stopped. He.. felt something. Like a slight tug on his heart. Not a vicious one, more like an asking, a pleading one, one in need of help. It was the only connection he had felt in his heart since he had arrived.

Somehow knowing what to do, he followed the tug in his heart. It was asking something of him, to borrow some light. So he allowed it. As soon as he did, he could still feel the connection, hanging, no longer asking, but a tether. It wasn't to here, to this vast expanse, but to somewhere else.

_Home. _

Maybe that was what Strelitzia meant, his link to home. There was only one way to find out.

He didn't know how much time had passed, but soon after, he could feel something. The link was getting closer, it was coming to him, it was coming here!

He opened his eyes to see not a reflection, but an altered version of himself.

"What the fuck?" asked the person standing in front of him, "where am I? can I not just have _one_ second? Not one?!"

Not knowing exactly how to react to someone here, now, with an actual _form_, he finally snapped the boy out of his staring at the infinite skies, hoping that he would be able to see him.

_Um, hello? Are you alright?_

However, despite his best attempts not to startle him, he did exactly that. And all the boy could do was stare at him with a fixed fascination. "S-Sora? Is that... you?" He whispered, still keeping his eyes glued to his watery form.

_I'm not exactly sure. Who are you, how did you get here, what even is here, and... who am I?_

"Wait, how are you doing that? You aren't even moving your mouth, how are you speaking?!"

But all Sora could do was shrug, as even he didn't know the answers. He was the one looking for them.

"I'm... Vanitas, and I knew you. I actually look just like you, just not the whole transparency thing, if you haven't noticed."

_Yeah, no, I noticed._ Sora responded wryly. At least he had kept his sense of humour.

"I don't know where this is or how the fuck you even got here, but I know you. I think I'm dreaming. This can't be real."

_How do you know me? Do you know my name?_

"Your name is Sora... do you not remember? Do you not remember anything? Do you know how to go back?"

_Go back where? I don't know where this is, but it's all I can remember... Sora. My name is Sora, you say?_

Vanitas started to panic slightly, with his breathing rate increasing quickly and his eyes darting around. He didn't remember anything?! Was this even real? Was this even Sora he was talking to? But some part of him, deep down, answered that for him. He could feel that this was real, that this was really Sora he was talking to. At least he still existed... somewhat.

"Sora, I know you don't remember, but we've had... kinda a bad relationship in the past. But I'm putting that behind me and I'm going to find you. We're all going to find you and bring you back home." His wry inflection and normal disdain and usual smarmy expression gone, wearing a serious expression on his face.

_What do you mean 'all'? What's going on?_ Sora exclaimed, this new development confusing him, bringing back an all too familiar headache. He must have known this person, past memories swirling all around him.

But before Vanitas was gone, he was dropped into the water below, fading away into the darkness, back to where he came from, leaving Sora with more questions than answers.

His name was Sora, and he had somewhere to get back to. People to get home to. And so he walked onwards.

\---

Vanitas woke up with a jolt, sweat running down his forehead. He... he had just talked to Sora. Or, at least, what was left of Sora. Why did he look like that? Where was that? Did he really not remember... anything?

All of the questions unanswered swarmed his mind, it was too much, he couldn't handle it! He ran out of his bedroom where he was once sleeping 'peacefully' and quickly redirected himself to the bathroom, footsteps thudding on the heavy wooden ground. He needed time to think.

As he grasped the edges of the sink, trying his best to slow his breathing, he stared into the mirror. His eyes... when did they turn red again? Instead of the usual burnt orange colouration in his irises, he was left with a crimson hue, startling and gleaming, contrasting his dark black locks of hair. It meant...

It meant that he was free from Xehanort and his tyrannical madness. He was free to be who he wanted to be. He was free to change how he wanted. A new beginning for him. He smirked at his reflection but free from any malicious intent. His sharpened canines stuck out from his teeth as he glared. It was his chance, it was his choice! He could actually be more than just darkness, to grow into something else.

As his pulse stopped racing, he slowly made his way back to his room, creeping on the floorboards, hoping not to alert anyone.

Opening his door, he clambered back into his bed, devout of any dreams.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WOW so i really enjoyed writing that and a LOT happened and i didn't want to make it too long so i shortened somethings down which i would have liked to elaborate on for a bit longer but eh anyways if anyone has any suggestions or thoughts about this feel free to tell me :) and also i don't really read these over much before posting so if anyone finds any mistakes just tell me
> 
> comments and kudos greatly appreciated!


	5. New Discoveries

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Vanitas and Namine have some news to share with the others. They want to find more answers, so they all head out on the first step to their journey.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hooOOOooOOo! HOOOO! THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH FOR ALL THE KUDOS AND THE HITS OH MY GOD!!! this is honestly amazing to me thank you all so much for reading i really appreciate it and i hope y'all are enjoying it!!!

It was only when the gleaming sun was streaming through the window that Vanitas started to stir and wake. That was... a long night, to say the least. A lot to take in. Some part of him knew that it was no dream, and that he really did see Sora.

Wherever he was. He had never seen anything like it, just an endless thin line of sea with the sky enclosing him. Xehanort had never told him anything of the sort, or maybe it was a Light thing. Either way, he knew that he'd have to ask. Unfortunately.

And then there was the next occurrence of the night. His eyes... they had changed back to red. He hadn't seen that ever since Xehanort took control. It had been too long. But at least he knew that he was himself now. No-one else in control but him. And this was all his decision.

Well, it would be his decision to go downstairs and wait for the other to come. Except, he didn't realise how early it was in the Land of Departure, or how tired everyone else was. Apparently, travelling from world to world could give you major jet lag, who knew? So he'd wait alone.

Or at least, he thought he would be alone. Travelling step by step down the ancient, stained steps, he noticed a head of flaxen, long hair begin to appear in the corner of his eye. _Ventus said her name was Namine, right? Maybe I can practice being nice with her for a bit before the others come._

"Oh, hello, Vanitas." A small voice emerged from the young girl. "Had a good night's sleep?"

"Actually, no." In response to Namine's confused expression, he continued. "I, uh, think I saw something. With Sora. About Sora, I mean." Vanitas concluded, stuttering his words out.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

"I might as well. No harm in it, right?" He let out a heavy breath, and started on his long story of what he saw. "I was asleep, when I saw this place. I thought I was dreaming, but it felt so real. It was this never ending sky and, it was weird, but I was standing on-"

"The sea. It was a land of sea and sky, right?"

Maybe his theory of it being a Light thing wasn't so off after all. "How do you know?"

"I'm not sure if you remember or not, but what happened in the Keyblade Graveyard the first time around... Sora somehow managed to rewrite what happened, but he and Kairi seem to be the only ones who remember what really happened. The first time around. We... well, they... lost. I was still in Kairi's heart but the next thing I knew, I was just a floating ball of light in the place you said. I don't know how or when, but I was back soon enough, but I haven't forgotten it."

_Didn't ask for your life story_, he thought. But he was trying to be nice. "I'm... sorry to hear that." And that loud, rampaging voice of pure negative thoughts became a bit quieter. "I was looking around when I heard a voice. It was Sora. He was there."

Namine let out a small gasp, knowing what terrible fate must have befell him to have ended up there. "Did you... talk to him?"

"I tried, but he didn't seem to remember anything. Not who I was, where he was, or even who he was. All I got to tell him was his name. I mean, I'm a bit glad that he didn't remember me. Could you imagine his reaction?" Vanitas's feeble attempt at humour to lighten the mood (oh, how ironic for him) only fell on flat ears, with Namine expressing a concerned expression, but surprisingly, not a surprised one. 

"I tried to tell the others yesterday but... I can't connect to any of his memories. Even if he was really gone, there would still be something. But it's like they've been taken, vanished. Every once in a while, I think I feel something, but it just fades away so quickly, I'm not even sure it's real half of the time."

"So he really doesn't have any memories?"

"No." Namine replied woefully. Finding his memories was the one thing she had to do, at least the others were out searching. At least when she first found out, she was going to tell them straight away, but there never seemed to be a good moment, it always slipped away from her. They were going to be devastated.

"We'll tell them together."

Namine looked at Vanitas with large eyes, relieved of this pressure taken away from her. "Really? Why?"

"I have to tell them what I saw last night, and I might as well just mention it, you know?" Vanitas replied with a smirk. Looks like he had his own ways of showing his caring. At his declaration, Namine leapt towards him and wrapped him in her arms and squeezed him tightly. "Thank you, Vanitas. You're a good friend."

He was, to say the least, confused. He had never really been hugged. What did he do? Did he hug her back, was he meant to just stand there, how long would it last, was he meant to say something? People were so confusing to him.

Choosing one of the options, finally, he managed to grumble out a quick "Thanks.". Did she really mean that? Was he, could he really be, a... good friend? A good person? Was he actually changing?

To snap him out of his reverie, he heard the quiet thuds of footsteps rushing down the stairs, revealing themselves to be Ventus, out of breath, holding some dark, shaded fabrics of some kind.

"Vanitas,-" Ven panted, "I- found- you!"

Being released by Namine, he retorted, "Yeah, I wasn't really hiding anywhere. But, good job anyways."

As Ventus composed himself by trying to slow down his fast paced breathing, Vanitas noticed the fabrics he was holding out in his hand were clothes. Were those... for him? Guess someone in the castle must've had good fashion sense. Must've been a really long time ago.

Noticing the other person standing next to Vanitas, he smiled and greeted her. "Hey, Namine! What are you doing up so early?"

"I wasn't really sleeping well, so I wanted to find something nice to draw. And this castle is full of things, despite my... previous 'visit'."

When Ven had heard what had happened to Namine, he was shocked to his core. The very castle where he was sleeping and safely as a sanctuary to him had been a prison and a nightmare for another, and the horrors she had to experience. They had told him all about the Organisation and Marluxia, whose name seemed so familiar, but he couldn't put a finger on it...

"I'm sorry to hear that you haven't been sleeping well. Is there anything we can do to help out?"

Gratefully pleased at his generous offer, she giggled, "Thanks, Ven, but there's not much. Maybe I can learn to see this place as the Land of Departure and not Castle Oblivion. It's going to take some time, but I want to feel safe here."

"I'm glad to hear it." Noticing Vanitas again, he seemed to be staring intently at the clothes he held in his hand. "I almost forgot! Vanitas, these are for you."

He held out his hand and Vanitas's coarse bodysuit layered around his hand precariously accepted them. Looking down at the generous offer he had just received, he decided, "I need to tell you something. And all the others. It's about Sora."

Ven's face lit up at the mention of Sora. "Alright, you can go change, and I'll wake the others up and you can come down and tell us. Sound fair?"

At Vanitas's small but affirming nod to him, he left the wide space and directed himself to his room. _Damn, I hate to say it, but these look promising, _Vanitas thought to himself. _Could it actually be that Venty-Wenty has some semblance of fashion sense?_

As he lay down the stack of clothes on his messy bed, layers still scattered from his sleep, he started to peel back his bodysuit, after years of wear. It didn't look worn out from a first glance, but smaller details revealed the rips, the tears, the frayed edges, and the scratches. His pale arms were no surprise to him, matching his face.

He picked up the first item from his pile. A pair of dark black trousers, similar in style to Terra's but smaller and tighter. _Surprisingly, a good start. Let's see what else we have. _A thick, black, sleeveless vest with such a soft texture. Vanitas had never worn anything like it. Soft. Comfortable. Looking at his old bodysuit now, compared to his new attire, he would never think of even wearing it again. He'd never tell them though, but he'd always know it.

However, as Vanitas sorted through his new clothes, it seemed as though Ventus had hidden in something extra amidst all of the other clothes. A jacket, with one half black and the other white. Identical to his. It was... unexpected, to say the least. Along with it, their cross binders they wore across their chests. OK, so it seemed that he didn't have that good of a fashion sense as Vanitas thought. Nevertheless, he appreciated the gesture.

He discarded the cross binder, put on his navy black shirt along with a large belt that had been packed with it (how large were these people's belts?) and put on the jacket. It had reached halfway up the upper half of his arms and just above the waist. He popped the collar on the jacket, and tied up the combat boots that had been set aside. 

He exited his room and hoped that the idiots had all woken up by now and that Ventus had assembled them. He was sure that if he had news about their beloved Sora, they'd do anything to hear him out. Once again walking down the polished staircase, he noticed a few more heads this time. An assortment of blue, white, blonde, red, and brown. They were all there, sitting at a table together, chatting away. _Good._

"So? Do you like the clothes?" Ven asked excitedly.

"Eh, they'll do. They're half decent, actually." Vanitas replied, hoping to form a compliment. However, at Ven's small smile he returned to him, he was reassured.

"Ven told us you had some news about Sora." Riku demanded impatiently, desperately wanting any news about him, "Is that true?"

"Yeah, it's true. And I'm glad you're already sitting down. You're gonna need it." He was met with a crowd of confused and slightly frightened faces, but continued nevertheless.

"I thought I was dreaming, but something told me otherwise. It was just the sky everywhere, and I was standing on a flat sea, nothing else. I turned around, and there he was. Sora. Without a damn memory to his name. He couldn't even remember _that_."

At the new occurrence, he could hear gasps of happiness slowly fade to gulps of fear and worry. A _lot_ of worry.

"He even looked different, like a silhouette, no colour in him. Just a watery statue."

"Wait, Vanitas, how can you be sure that he lost his memories?" Kairi asked sceptically. She knew that they had to cooperate with him to find Sora, but as a Princess of Heart, it was like every part of her was screaming to not trust him from when they first met. For now, she'd just have to silence those screams and listen to him.

"I got a chance to talk to him. Thankfully, he didn't recognise me but he also didn't recognise anything else. I managed to tell him his name, so maybe that might spark something in his memories. I don't know." He huffed, reaching his conclusion.

"Namine, is he telling the truth about this?" Riku asked reluctantly and breathlessly. He didn't want it to be true. It couldn't be true.

"I tried to tell you yesterday, but things just kept on getting in the way. I let Vanitas be the one to tell you because I thought it might soften the blow if it didn't come from me. No matter how hard I try, I can't focus on any of his memories. They're gone. I'm so sorry, guys." She let out a fearful whisper. It was true.

"I-If it helps, I think I might know where he is." At Namine's repeated hushed tone, everyone's heads flicked up and looked at her. This was new.

"Kairi," Namine continued, turning to face her, "you and Sora are the only ones who remember, but it was the first time in the Keyblade Graveyard."

Kairi's face suddenly fell and went pale. Yeah, she remembered. She remembered being struck down and being taken away in a stream of heartless, every part of her feeling like it was fading away, finding herself in a soon to be familiar dark abyss. Finding Sora. Being taken back to the second it all started, but it was all different, they had just done it-

No one else but Sora and Kairi (and apparently Namine) knew. And that's how it was going to stay. Well, at least, that's what she thought. She had no idea that Namine knew about that. Kairi tried to speak but only gasps of empty air came out, so she let Namine continue.

"I was in your heart. But the next thing I knew, I was where Vanitas is talking about. I met Sora there, and he looked just as Vanitas said he did. Except, he had his memories then. When you did the battle the next time over, I don't know what happened, but I was back in your heart. Luckily, I managed to contact Terra in time to turn the tides." She gave the aforementioned man a small giggle and he looked over at her gratefully and smiled back. They together managed to change the entire fate of that battle, and they'd both be eternally grateful to one another for it.

"So, he's telling the truth. Sora really doesn't have any memories. So, all we have to do is find him and ask him how to remember, right?" Aqua suggested. Maybe it wouldn't be that hard after all.

"Yeah, we're gonna ask the guy who lost all his memories how to get them back, genius plan there." Vanitas sneered back.

Namine quickly took control of the conversation, not wanting any outbreaks of fights, especially with Vanitas's attitude. "I don't think it's that simple. When I went there, it was the last resort. I only managed to hold on because of someone's light and hope for me. As long as that existed, I did too. But that's all that was keeping me tethered. I don't think we can go there that easily, even with Keyblades."

And so they were back to little hope. "So we'll find a way." Roxas spoke up in a strong tone, finally making himself known. "Sora would do the same for each and everyone of us, so it shouldn't be any different for all of us! We'll just have to look for a way, and when we find him, we'll work from there on the memories front."

Riku didn't know what to say about any of this. His head was still spinning from finding out that Sora really was alone out there, without a single memory. He didn't remember who was missing him. Sora couldn't remember him. In the back of his head, he was still thinking about what Namine said, about a first try in the Keyblade Graveyard, <strike>about seeing all of his friends taken away from him, Sora giving up, _he'd never give up on him, he'd give his life for him,_ he did give his life for him</strike>-

He shook his head out of its thoughts and reinforced Roxas's mini-speech. "Roxas is right. We know where he is and there's still a chance. His heart still has a connection to this Realm, so we're not going to give up on him. We _will_ find a way." Riku looked more determined than ever, closer than ever to finding him, no way was he going to give up now.

"So now we know where he is, kinda, and how we're gonna find him. We'll look for a path to him, right, Vanitas?" Ventus declared affirmatively.

"Wait, what? You think just because I have a connection to his heart that I can do that stupid Light thing you guys to and 'follow my heart' to him?"

"It's not gonna hurt to try. You said you would help us, well, this is how! We can go to Radiant Garden and from there, we can go where feels natural to you, Vanitas!"

"I know I said that I'd help, just didn't realise how stupid your methods were. Sure, I'll go along with it, but we'll see how far it'll take us. Following our _hearts_." Vanitas enunciated mockingly.

Now that they had all of that sorted, they had all decided to head to Radiant Garden finally. "I'll call Xion and tell her to bring Lea along. Ven, thanks for letting me stay for a few days. I think that was one of the most eventful visits I've had so far."

"I can agree with you there. Don't think I'll be able to top this one."

Roxas let out a small laugh. "So, we'll meet back at Radiant Garden?"

"Me, Terra, and Ven will take our gliders and go through the Lanes Between. Riku, Kairi, Namine, is it alright if Roxas and Vanitas travel with you? Without the right armour, I think it might be a bit dangerous to come with us. Unless you feel like being flung out into outer space endlessly?" Aqua inquired.

"I think I'll take the Gummiship, thanks." Roxas hastily hurried to the ship as Aqua laughed at his reaction.

As they reboarded the Gummiship, they all said their temporary partings as the trio flung their Keyblades in impressive displays, transforming them into modes of transportation as they jetted off into the skies.

The brazen yellow exterior of the Gummiship died down as they entered within, dimming into warmer tones. Vanitas absorbed the sights around him, turning his head in all directions to see the whole interior. It was way bigger than it had seemed to be from the outside, and he really couldn't care enough to ask. 

Riku took the helm of the ship, assuming the role of the driver, with all of the seats behind acting as passenger seats. Kairi and Namine sat parallel to one another on opposite sides, with two seats behind each of them. Roxas, taking the seat behind Namine, left Vanitas with the seat behind Kairi. Fun.

The engine started with a splutter and then began to ascend slowly towards the skies, setting its destination to Radiant Garden.

"So, Vanitas," Riku attempted to interact with him, "are you ready to get started on the search with us?"

"I'm getting really sick of this question. You people have already asked me this around ten times and I've already agreed. Unless you want me to change my mind, I'd suggest you stop asking."

At the sudden silence that had thickened in the air, Roxas had suddenly burst out laughing. "What's wrong with him?" Vanitas asked, somewhat confused at Roxas's bizarre reaction to literally nothing.

"I'm sorry, it's just that your voice sounds so much like Sora's, and I can never imagine him saying something like that. He'd always be too polite to. Even if someone asked him the same question a thousand times over, I bet he'd still respond each time, never getting tired of helping someone out."

At the hilarious thought of Sora saying such a thing, quiet snickers emanated from the front three passengers. Vanitas had no idea what was going on. Maybe they had all gone insane. They did all suggest following their _hearts_ as a valid and literal option to finding someone and they all deemed it normal, so it wasn't completely out of the question.

"Lighten up, Vanitas," Roxas teased, unaware of the irony behind his words, "it's a joke! It's OK to laugh, you know." 

All that escaped Vanitas was a small grumble and an eye roll, but they'd take it. Internally, Vanitas was thinking of Sora actually saying such a thing and let out a small huff through his nose. Maybe it was a little funny. Or maybe he was going as insane as them. Either way, he knew he was changing.

Vanitas's reaction to the joke cemented to Riku that this lookalike wasn't Sora and he wasn't going to act like Sora. But it was alright, because he'd hopefully be the missing piece to finding him. And then, finally, they could be happy together after the battle. Riku's eyes glazed over slightly at the thought, but he quickly rubbed it away before anyone could see.

A few more hours of chatting between them, and even some reciprocation from Vanitas, which was a surprise to all of them but equally as welcome, and they saw something in the far distance.

"Radiant Garden. We should be landing soon. Everyone ready?"

Everyone confirmed to Riku that they were all prepared for landing (even Vanitas gave a small affirmation) and after a few moments, they descended from the skies there. Waiting for them at the grounds near the grand castle was the trio: Ventus, Terra, and Aqua.

As Riku made a safe landing, they all stepped off of the small ramp provided to them by the ship and greeted them all, asking one another about their journey to their current location.

"So, Roxas," Aqua jested, "how was your journey?"

"Yeah, I had a really good time not being flung into space."

At the reminder of her previous joke, she broke out into a chortle, with Roxas chiming in shortly after her.

"Alright, we should head to the castle now. The apprentices should be waiting for us along with Xion and Lea." Riku reminded them all of their intentions of their arrival.

However, at the mention of the apprentices and through association, _Ansem the 'Wise'_, Namine visible tensed once again. Kairi rushed to her side and lifted her hand.

"Just remember," Kairi reminded her softly with a warm smile on her face, "I can and will kick his ass if need be, yeah? Just say the word, alright, Namine?"

Strangely enough, Namine then felt reassured about entering the castle. A reminder that she was safe with her friends was all she needed.

As they began to approach the entrance, they were met with an indigo-haired man, talking to the two guards outside towering over him but smiling with him. It had seemed as though Ienzo wanted to greet his visitors personally.

"I received your call, Roxas, you said something about needing tests on a heart?"

"Yep, right here. Meet edgy Sora!" Roxas replied falsely cheerfully, placing a hand on Vanitas's shoulder, fully aware of the death glare he was receiving but uncaring of it.

Ienzo gasped in shock at this new discovery, fascinated by the machinations of the heart. He'd have some fun with examining _this_ one.

"Oh my! Right this way, yes, yes, hurry! This is ever so fascinating!" Ienzo declared with anticipation, directing the large group further within the castle, where the other two were presumably waiting for them. Vanitas didn't look too happy at the young scientist's eagerness to study him, but he did agree with the examination. For some reason. Which he was having difficulty recalling at the moment, being tugged along by the scientist.

He took a deep breath and remembered. _If you want to change, you have to do this. You're doing this for Sora. You're doing this for you._

And so he followed him, closely followed by the rest of the group.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WOOOOO now we're actually getting things going and it should be more fast paced in the next few chapters, y'all got any thoughts or ideas for any of the next chapters i'd be more than happy to hear them, if i've made any mistakes, please let me know!
> 
> comments and kudos greatly appreciated!


	6. Radiant Underways

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Vanitas's heart holds more secrets than it seems, and some people want to find out more. However, some just want to get started on their long awaited search with their new lead.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i'm bad at time management fight me and i've also decided what to do with the groups (not the worlds i think the fuck not) 
> 
> as always please enjoy the garbage i have written. i know it's hard to but eh

Entering the great castle they had seen on the outside, it appeared to be even greater on the inside. On the entrance, it had such eloquent designs, with archways painted in gold and white sloping around corners, creating such beautiful and picturesque designs all around, with artwork placed up on all the walls in golden frames. It had seemed to be of all of the previous head scientists that had worked in the lab, and judging from the long array of portraits, this castle was really old.

Vanitas had never seen anything like it. Literally. His views had been limited to the worlds he had been to in the past by Xehanort's orders. Sure, he had visited here, but only to bring mayhem and destruction with his Unversed, not to stop and smell the flowers. Now that he had a second chance, he actually had the time to stop and smell the flowers. Not like he'd choose to, but he was appreciative to have that choice in the first place.

As they ventured further in, guided by the young scientist with his hair splayed across his face madly and flying in every direction on his head as he hurried the large group along quickly, the halls became less bright and full of colour and intricate designs and began to be slowly replaced with overlaying wires. The whites and golds on the walls slowly started to be tainted with blue, purple, red, black, scattered around with no obvious ordered system in place.

The chaotic energy the scientist had portrayed to them all began to be mirrored in the state of the lab around him. "Sorry about all of this!" Ienzo proclaimed loudly over the droning of many sounds, "We haven't had a lot of machines and functions here operational for a decade and with all of the work done to provide replicas for everyone-!"

As soon as he could finish his sentence, two other figures came into sight, holding their ears to block out the loud, deafening noises of the surrounding machinery and attempting to hide the discomfort in their faces.

One wearing long, skinny, black trousers to show off his lanky figure and black trainers with a red and yellow checked scarf to match his fiery, auburn hair, almost matching the shade of Vanitas's eyes, the other with a much smaller stature, almost petite, wearing a silk, baggy, cream coloured shirt tucked messily into the dark navy, ripped trousers she wore, accompanied with ankle-high boots that matched nicely. Upon the group's arrival, Roxas burst out from behind the others and launched himself into the two others joining them. "Xion! Lea! You made it!" He managed to shout over the reverberating echoes of cogs turning, somewhat quieted down by the scientist's background work.

"Of course we did, wouldn't wanna miss out! Now, where is this edgy Sora you promised us?" Lea remarked, an infliction of teasing in his tone.

"Right here!" Roxas replied, allowing the others to move themselves out of the way to reveal Vanitas.

"Wow, you really weren't lying, Roxas. He really is the edgiest of all of the Soras." Xion proclaimed inquisitively, coming closer to the aforementioned boy to get a closer look at him, examining his appearance.

"At least you've found someone to share your hair dye now." Smirked Lea, directing the insult to Xion who gasped dramatically at the accusation.

"I will have you know that this is 100% au natural! This is coming from _you, _Lea, no way is that mop natural!"

They began retorting to one another, constantly getting one over the other until Roxas cleared his throat abruptly. "Xion, Lea, this is Vanitas. Vanitas, meet Xion and Lea."

"That was fun to watch. It's like hot potato with a brain cell." Vanitas grinned to himself with Roxas following shortly, finding bemusement and truth in the remark.

"If we're being honest, it's usually Isa that has the brain cell," Lea reminisced, "but luckily, he wasn't there to use it when I first dyed my hair. Real shock the next day for him." 

"Speaking of, where is Isa? I thought he'd love a visit to Radiant Garden?" Roxas tilted his head slightly, picking up after one of Sora's traits. He and Isa had a rocky start within his time in the Organisation, but he reassured him that he was Saix back then, and that he had changed, which Roxas had certainly experienced for himself. At least he didn't have to fill out any more mission reports.

"He volunteered to stay at home with the dog so that I could come and help out with the search!" Xion replied with a smile.

That was something both Xion and Isa found themselves bonding over, their mutual love of dogs. It had been a total surprise to her when she came home after a long day of training with Kairi to spot Isa, sitting on the couch with a familiar shape in his lap. They had both been enamoured with their newly found pet and loved it and had tended to it ever since, and it had become very dear to them, to all of them.

"Well, we're glad to have you, both of you." Aqua greeted them gracefully.

"Now that you're all here and organised, we can get started. Our studies on the heart have spanned over many years, and whilst we can admit that we have performed some morally ambiguous acts over the years, a new era has dawned on scientific curiosity! We would be ever so humbled to anyone who wished to volunteer to us the studies of their heart, and you, Vanitas, shall be an incredible case, we're sure!"

"Quick question, is everyone here going to talk like an asshole? All the time?" Vanitas sighed incredulously. "If so, I don't think I can keep it up."

"Keep what up?" Ven asked innocently.

"Suppressing the urge to punch them after every pretentious word that comes out of their mouths."

However, even with the threats from Vanitas and everyone's small indications of unease on letting him near the indigo-haired scientist after, he continued with his speech. "We can get started as soon as Ansem the Wise arrives to assist and manage the observation."

"I'm sorry," (Vanitas wasn't), "Ansem the _who_?"

Namine feebly shuffled closer to Vanitas, feeling more comfortable around him after their previous talk, and explained who the man was. "He was a scientist, well, he is now, but for a short time, he was a man named DiZ. He... wasn't the kindest." Her eyes started to gaze at the floor and she picked at her fingernails, clearly dejected by the memory of such. "Especially to me and Roxas, like pieces of garbage to him, disposable." 

With a sudden explanation, Vanitas's smug face dropped solemnly to a serious and rather pissed-off demeanour. "And you people still trust this guy? After he pulled this shit? What is wrong with you people?!"

As if being summoned by the mention of his name, Ansem crept around the corner to be met with several despondent faces, their hopes being slowly dimmed by the reminders of his previous actions. "Ienzo, thank you for showing our guests in. If you would be as kind as to get started on our preparations for the examinations, I would be deeply grateful." 

Ansem's deep tone informed him of the urgency of the situation, unspoken understandings passing between the apprentice and his master. Ienzo quickly shuffled away to further work, leaving the Guardians of Light, Ansem the Wise, and an agitated Vanitas.

"Ah," exclaimed Ansem, "you must be Vanitas, the one we've been told about. Yes, the mysteries of your heart will be certainly interesting for us to unravel, and perhaps they shall give us a clue into locating the young Sora."

However, Vanitas had no real response other than a snarl directed at the scientist. "Listen here, if you're thinking of poking around where and when you're not welcome, then you should think again. I'm not interested in being treated like a lab rat. We do this on _my_ terms."

"I am under the assumption that you have heard of my deeds in the past. I am truly not proud of them, and to all of those that I have hurt, I apologise. I know first hand that I have personally hurt Roxas and Namine and Xion, and whatever I can do to make it up to all of you, I shall attempt. I no longer practice anything unethical to people, I can assure you. We no longer do physical experiments on the heart that have potential to cause any more hurt."

"Vanitas, if he even dares to do that again, I can assure you that I'll personally kick his ass with you." Xion declared with a death glare to her peripheral and a reaffirmation of a nod with Roxas and a small giggle from Namine, not protesting the threat.

In fact, no-one opposed her notion. Everyone was in support of Vanitas's safety. It was a fairly new concept to him. Being... cared about, thought about. Considered. Xehanort surely didn't care for him, and he knew that. All he was to him was just a small part in his idiotic master plan, just another puppet in place. But now, he was someone. And people actually cared about what happened to him. The warm feeling in his chest came creeping back up, slowly taking root in his heart.

Disregarding the threats with an audible gulp down his throat, Ansem coughed. "Ahem, yes, well, you do have my word. But if you deem any of our practices as unsuitable, feel free to retract from the examination at any time. Now, I must get started on preparing my reports. We must complete some initial examinations beforehand."

Following his suggestion, he began to scan the large, glaring screen in front of him for answers seemingly, occasionally, typing in long sentences and filling in pre-prepared empty spaces.

Noticing the crowd of somewhat confused faces surrounding him and his works, he elaborated. "Our studies on the heart are to research how complex the heart is and all of its intricacies, as it is truly an elaborate process." Ansem rambled on, clenching his fist tightly. "It has taken the full culmination of several years to even begin to understand all of its variables and afflictions and we are nowhere close to even beginning to comprehend its true glory-"

"That's just a really fancy way of saying that you have no clue what you're doing." Lea cut in abruptly, interrupting the man.

Ansem turned around at the screen once again, continuing his once-again interrupted works. "I am almost finished with the preliminary report, and then we shall get started right away."

Not completely understanding the technology at work and staring at the moving screen in slight awe, Ven glared. "How is he doing that?"

"He hit the, uhhh, long thing?" Roxas replied, confused at the mechanism. "The thing with a lot of squares on them?"

"The keyboard? Roxas, do you not know how to work a computer?" Riku inquired half mockingly.

"I've had a complicated relationship with computers and that's not gonna change now. You, on the other hand, I'm sure should have no problem, seeing how you shoved me into one and erased all my memories."

At the sudden remembrance of his own regretful (yet still necessary) actions, he coughed loudly and began to once again apologise, "Again, Roxas, I'm so sorry that it had to be that way, I really wish there could have been another way-"

"Eh, it's fine. I've forgiven you, it wasn't really your fault. You were just trying to help. However, him, I do blame." Roxas elaborated, pointing an accusatory finger to Ansem. "He can apologise and repent all he wants, but it's my choice if I want to forgive him. And I'm not really in a forgiving mood."

As if arriving right on time to save his master from an embarrassing and humiliating exposure of more of his past mistakes, Ienzo slinked around the corner. "The machines are almost done with their preparations! We should be able to begin. If you shall all follow us?" He prompted to Ansem to take the lead.

Vanitas crossed his arms and wore a look of disdain at the scientist, still wary of whether to trust him. But, he knew, he had... people (friends? were they friends?) that he could trust. So he'd play along for that. _For them_. 

_____

To say Vanitas was tired was an understatement. Not physically, but mentally. It hadn't been vigorous testing, nothing that requires any exertion. And that was the problem. It was taking way too long. At least the others got to sit down outside whilst waiting for _several hours_ for him to be done with all the damn machines. But, they were almost done.

They had told him that they had almost collected all the data that they needed, but the last piece would have to be overnight. _Great. Another overnight stay._

It was already nearing sunset, and Vanitas was mind-numbingly bored. He wasn't allowed to train (doctor's orders), and he wasn't allowed to stray far from the lab.

Roxas and Xion had left already, with Vanitas overhearing something about 'ice-cream' and pleading Lea for it, and other such dramatics from them. Whatever it was, Vanitas didn't care.

At least, he didn't until two such people burst into his room unannounced, holding strange and unfamiliar blue, triangular blobs with sticks attached in their hands with beaming smiles on their faces.

"Firstly, why? Secondly, _what_?" Vanitas asked, more confused than annoyed.

"We figured that you've never had sea-salt ice cream, so we wanted to help you with that!" Xion beamed gleefully, extending her arm and holding out the ice cream.

"Once again... why?"

"We didn't think that there'd be this brand of ice cream here, but there is!" Roxas replied with a cheery tone in his voice. "We have the same ones in Twilight Town, but it turns out that apparently Mr McDuck has expanded his sea-salt empire."

He didn't seem to get the point, as Vanitas was actually asking about his generosity to him. Were these Guardians of Light so willing to actually help Vanitas? Firstly wanting to protect him so fervently against Ansem, and now actively seeking out friendship?

As if being called by the mention of the ice cream, Ventus happened to walk past the door, hanging wide open, and his curiosity leading him inside.

"Hey, guys, what are you doing?"

"We found some sea-salt ice cream in town and we decided to share some with Vanitas!" Xion exclaimed brightly.

Chuckling to himself and entering further into the room, Ven sat down on the bed next to Vanitas, his legs dangling off the side. "You have to try one, please? I remember the first time Roxas convinced me to eat one, and _boy_, was that an experience!"

Somewhat uncertain about Ven's description, he approached the ice cream handed to him with caution, examining it as much as he deemed. After his thorough examination, the other three stared at him with anticipation, expecting his reaction.

Vanitas gnawed into the bar, and immediately retracted it from his mouth with his facial features scrunched together in retaliation to the unexpected flavour. "Why is there salt, holy shit, that's actually _salt_-"

The others began to laugh at Vanitas's unprecedented reaction at the treat. Did the name sea-salt really give no indication to him as to its flavour?

However, as he swirled the bite he took around his mouth, he discovered the next part of the name as a sweet edge to it, contrasting perfectly with the salt. _Actually... not that bad. It's kinda sweet. _He mused to himself, taking another bite into the blue coloured bar, his features smoothing into actual enjoyment.

The others continued laughing heartily, but he could tell it wasn't directed at him, mocking him. No, it was an expression of... friendship. They were having fun... with _him. _He wasn't a source of suffering, but one of affection. He'd never tell them outwardly that he actually enjoyed the snack (and his time with them), but he had a feeling that he didn't need to say it for them to know.

He managed to finish the entire bar with numerous giant bites, obviously having enjoyed the gift. However, engraved on the empty stick, the word 'WINNER' was displayed, with a quick gasp emerging from Roxas.

"Nice! If you get a stick that says winner, you can either exchange it in for a free bar, or if you save enough of them up, you can get prizes!"

"Really?" Vanitas replied, with genuine curiosity in his voice, intrigued at this system, more intrigued at the new flavours he was met with.

But, before any of them could answer, their heads all collectively shot up to the sound emerging from the corridor, a small cough to alert them of his presence. Looked like the scientists were ready to test again, and as much as Vanitas wanted to protest, he restrained himself.

The others, understanding without any explanation what it meant, slowly started to pick themselves up and head to the exit, each of them waving their hands to Vanitas and muttering their small 'goodbyes'.

"Master Ansem has given me the permission to proceed with the final part of our data collection. We shall have to monitor your heart overnight, if that's alright with you?"

Not really caring that much about semantics, Vanitas gave a small shrug as if to say 'sure'. However, this prompted the scientist to continue with his explanation, of which Vanitas didn't really care that much about, managing to block out the majority of the speech.

"...and then in the morning, we should have a complete analysis. Are you sure you're fine with this?"

Exhausted with their questions, he groaned. "Ugh, yes, yes, I get it, can you just get this over with a bit quicker?"

Ienzo managed to find his confirmation within his complaints, and as promised, he proceeded.

After the night sky had fallen over Radiant Garden, and the stars began to shimmer and glow, all Vanitas had to do was sleep, and the next thing he would know would be morning.

That is, until, he felt all of his senses leaving him, and a familiar dropping feeling into darkness, all the way onto the ocean's surface once again.

And then the beating in his chest began to halt.

\-----

Sora (he finally remembered his name after that 'Vanitas' told him) had been walking again. And to no end it seemed. No matter for how long, in any way, there was nothing. Sometimes, the flashes in the corner of his eyes would appear, coaxing him over in their direction, as they seemed to stay a bit longer.

But it still wasn't long enough.

He hadn't had any contact with anyone after Strelitzia and Vanitas, and he missed it (despite not having any memory of anything to compare it to). He wanted so badly to have that reaffirmation once again that he wasn't alone, physically. But none came.

Sometimes, the flashes in his peripheral formed beasts, constructed from shadows and darkness with their eyes ablaze in a crimson light, clawing their way through the air around them. A sense of fleeting familiarity always flooded him after that one, reaching for something just out of reach in his hand, an ache in his heart.

As much as he wanted to find out what it all meant, he couldn't. There he was, alone, in an empty land of ocean and sky, only remembering the single feature of his name.

But this time, it was different. This time, he could feel something near him. It stared at him, right in the corner of his eye. He was getting kind of sick of things disappearing around him, not being able to grasp a single permanent thing. Maybe if he just stayed right where he was, it wouldn't dim again. He wouldn't be alone once again.

Surprised as he was, it didn't vanish at first. And he knew what, or more specifically, who it was. Vanitas. He didn't know exactly who the mysterious but familiar face was, how he got here, or knew him. All he knew was that in that scarce moment, he was just filled with so much joy to feel a presence near him. Well, not when it was staring at him with widened eyes, struck down in fear.

Vanitas wasn't talking this time. He just stood there, stuck to the ground. Hesistantly, Sora knew what he had to do. He had to face him.

But, as the thought occurred to him with hearing Vanitas's breathing rate increase, being diminished to gasps at this point. He was... panicking?

He started to turn faster, wanting to console, interact, feel something, but the cruel hands of destiny weren't that kind to Sora, snatching the only other presence away from him through the glassy appearance of the thin surface.

He didn't get to even say anything to him. A fleeting moment, or a fragment of an appearance. Was it even real? Or was it a reminder that maybe he wasn't truly alone.

He had to walk forward, holding that knowledge protectively in him.

\-----

The sky, now spanning to colours of reds and purples, deep into the night, was the first thing that Ansem was met with. Whilst setting up the last of their data accumulation, he had ordered Ienzo to set up a heart rate monitor, a rare case scenario, collecting little data. Well, not as rare as they thought.

He was awoken by a loud beeping, alerting him to the case at hand. Vanitas's heart wasn't being detected by the monitors like it was before. It was like it had stopped.

Generally, that's a pretty bad thing to have happen.

Storming down the fettered walls of the labs, tactically avoiding anything that would prevent him from reaching Vanitas's room in time, he managed to alert another temporary resident in the castle, a young boy sharing the appearance of Roxas, but different in their nuances.

Picking up on his panicked demeanour, Ventus managed to dart out of his room, bedhead and all, and followed Ansem to his destination, an unspoken agreement passing between them, no time for words. He had become a light sleeper after 10 years, after all.

As they heaved the door open, they spotted Vanitas lying on the littered bed, covers splayed wildly around him. His chest not moving up and down. Not breathing.

Terrified, Ventus managed to utter out the words he was desperate to ask. "I-is he alright? What's happening?"

"His heartbeat has stopped. Something's happened, but I'm not sure what."

Joining him in his panic, Ventus shook the raven-haired teen on his shoulders, willing with all his heart to bring him back. He focused, every part of light within him, grasping for any connection with him to drag him back. _Please..._

Thankfully, due to Ventus's strong heart and will, Vanitas slowly began to stir, a slow rate on the monitor next to him building up. He was back.

But unluckily for Ven, Vanitas wasn't very happy with the current scenario he found himself in. He grabbed Ven by the hems of his shirt and began to shake him wildly.

"What- the- FUCK- was- that for?!" Vanitas gasped out, regaining his breath but having more than enough anger.

"Um, you're welcome?!" Ven cut in abruptly. "You weren't breathing, it's a miracle you're here again!" 

Managing to stabilise his own breathing, he began. "I was there again. I saw Sora, and I was about to talk to him, but _thanks to you_, the message didn't quite get through in time!"

Oh. Ventus wasn't sure how to feel. His mind ran free with thoughts as he was filled with extreme feelings of guilt. Seeing Sora again was an obvious positive, but was the price really standing on the razor edge of life and death? Did his heart have to stop to find him? Did he have to die to catch a simple glimpse?

"For his heart to travel to such a place, it must have stopped for him to reach such extreme limits. Wherever Sora is, it's not good news. It means that he too must have no pulse alive in his chest to maintain his form there. A land after death must be what you're looking for."

"That's what Namine was telling us about before... so it really is true." Ven started to divert his gaze to the floor, displeased to an extent with what just happened.

Thankfully, he could hear the echoes of thuds of footsteps clambering close by, making their way to the room.

"Well, despite this unfortunate occurrence, we do have all the data that we aspired to collect. I believe it shall be easier to distribute this information to everyone in the morning." Ansem explained but Vanitas's growls led him to believe that it was best to leave the matter at hand so things wouldn't escalate.

Ven slowly crept out of the door, guilt-ridden by what he had just done. Making his way out, he was met with everyone else's faces clambered around the door, curious as to what was happening and newly awoken by the all of the calamity.

To assuage all of their doubts (hopefully successfully) all he needed to explain was in one succinct sentence. "We'll explain in the morning."

At Ven's morose tone and gloomy expression he wore, they all knew that it was better to leave it than to interrogate further as they all slumped back to their rooms.

\-----

The morning sky was streaked with smears of pink, orange, and blues. A new day was beaming across the horizon.

Ventus awoke groggily, the memory of the events of last night still fresh in his mind as he rose his hand to his head. The guilt was still fresh too, and he knew that he'd have to confront Vanitas, sooner or later. 

Getting changed into his clothes rather quickly, he prepared for the day ahead of him. Physically and mentally.

Stepping outside of his room, he was once again met with the friendly faces of his friends, Aqua and Terra.

"Hey, Ven, we saw yesterday how you looked after going into Vanitas's room yesterday? Is everything alright? Do you want to talk about it?" Aqua asked in her usual compassionate tone with thinly veiled concern for his wellbeing, especially if Vanitas was involved.

"I think I might have messed up. And I'm not sure if I can fix it." He replied painfully.

"Ven, we've known you for a long time," Terra insisted, wanting to clear up his dear friend's glum feelings, "so we know what a kind and caring person you are, especially for others. I'm sure whatever you did was in the best interest and that you meant no ill intent."

Ven sighed, somewhat partially picking up in his mood after his friend's considerate words. Sometimes, they knew exactly what to say. "Thanks, guys. Let's go see the scientists so we can see what they found out."

They walked together in strides towards the main area where there was just one raven, spiky-haired boy slouching in a chair, legs crossed over one another, with a half neutral, half contemplative look on his face. Inhaling deeply, Ventus summoned the courage he so desperately needed and walked over to him.

"Hey, Vanitas."

"What do you want?" Vanitas replied in his usual wry manner, not seeming too angry however.

"I- uh- just wanted to apologise. For last night. That's all." Quickly muttering out his words and his confidence slowly fading, he turned on his heels and proceeded to walk back to his other friends. That was until something unexpected happened. A strong grip clutched his hand to stop him walking away.

"Wait. I just wanted to say... thanks. For looking out for me."

A small smile spread over his face, his feelings of guilt slowly breaking away. "No problem, Vani."

"Forgiveness recinded, never call me that again."

"Sure thing, Vani!" Ven giggled, playfully teasing Vanitas. And to his surprise, there was no sarcastic remark attached or wry retort to meet his joyful remarks. A genuine laugh escaped Vanitas. Genuine happiness.

But, to put a small halt in their reverie, they were met with the two scientists. Thankfully, the others had arrived just in time so that everyone was finally present and seated, prepared for the news they were to receive.

After clearing his throat loudly, Ansem declared aided by Ienzo, "I am glad to tell you all that there are no major anomalies found in Vanitas's heart. In fact, I was told that he was pure darkness, correct?"

"I mean, no shit, I am literally the half of someone's heart, split into darkness and light. So, yeah, you were told right."

"Actually, our findings proved conversely. Whilst your heart may be a majority of darkness, there is some light to be found in there. You are your own person, Vanitas. Not just a half."

Vanitas gasped, met with the startling news. He was truly... his own person? Not just an incomplete half? And he wasn't only darkness? He really could change. He was changing. This really was his second chance...

To snap him out of his thoughts, Ansem continued. "As we were discovering the mysteries of your heart, we found that your heart truly does have a link to another, one we presume to be Sora's, due to the events of last night."

Ienzo followed on from his master's words. "To put it into simpler terms, what you must do is follow the connection from one heart to another, and you shall find your missing friend. But we must warn you, after the alarming discoveries last night, it won't be easy."

"No matter what, we'll look for him. Right, guys?" Roxas spoke, determination fuelling his drive.

At their newly found affirmation and a shining hope of a real chance of finding the one they all missed so much, it felt like a breath of fresh air. They _were_ going to find him.

\-----

After some highly awaited exposure to sunlight (sitting and waiting inside really wasn't their thing), they all began thinking about their next move on their mission with one goal in mind. They'd go where Vanitas's heart led them, the chain to Sora, and find their friend.

It was Lea who suggested that they split off into separate groups in their search, being able to scour more worlds in a shorter period of time (they'd waited long enough already). And it was Xion who volunteered herself, Roxas, and Lea to accompany Vanitas to where his heart guided him and help him.

Luckily enough, they had brought their own gummiship to Radiant Garden, parked away in a reclusive space where others couldn't see it and invisible to the public eye. 

However, before they both left, Ventus wanted to have one more talk with Vanitas.

"Good luck out there, Vani."

"Thanks, Ventus."

"Please, my friends call me Ven."

"Alright, Ven." He produced a small smile in return and quickly turned away, approaching their gummiship.

And so they parted in their separate ways, off to start their search.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i'm just. writing this and i have absolutely no clue how long it's gonna be or how many worlds i'm gonna put in. my brain is not used to having 1 (one) complete thought to think about. also i may not know shit about 'heart science' but it's ok because neither does kingdom hearts
> 
> and i've just realised i'm gonna have to write fight scenes aren't i. aren't i-


	7. Sea-Salt Saltiness (Part 1)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lea, Roxas, Xion, and Vanitas head in the Gummiship to their first destination in their search for Sora, but their destination is unexpected to them all. Hopefully, they can find what they're looking for, and maybe find something more in their friendship.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> me: wow i hope people are enjoying the fic i wrote what, like, yesterday, haha
> 
> my brain: It Has Been Over Two Months, You Heathen Tube
> 
> me, realising that the passage of time also affects me: ah. the consequences of my actions i see

Lea always hated saying goodbye. Sure, he always knew it was temporary, he'd always have the choice to come back anytime he wanted. But Radiant Garden, the place he met Isa, the place he had lived in for the majority of his childhood, the only normalcy in his life, it always held a special place in his heart. He never really got a chance to say goodbye before. Not before-

But he wanted to move on from the past. Knowing that he couldn't go back just to redo it all over again hurt, but it was hurt that he got through. He had a new family now, one he found and made himself. And he was pretty proud of it.

Plus, whenever he left, he always got the nicest views. As the Gummiship slowly ascended into the skies, the pale blues faded away and were replaced with ebony ink with patches of white splattered around, encroaching and surrounding them, immersing them into the vast, deep ocean they found themselves in. Watching the blurs of white trail off reminded them of what was out there.

It was a wonderful thought. To think that every star out there, every small dot of white littered in the vast expanse of space was another world, full of life, thriving, each with their own story. Their only mode of transportation in the Organisation had been the bleak and chilling space of their dark corridors. But to see a space, so full of potential, it was breathtaking. It truly was a sight to behold. 

At least, to the majority of the passengers on board. All Vanitas did was sigh heavily, not out of exasperation, but something more seemingly being boredom. He wasn't used to something as slow as a ship to take him around. When he moved about, he always knew where he was going, he wasn't an idiot. But then, he decided to help the idiots who apparently didn't know directions. So he spoke up.

"Sorry for interrupting your staring outside, except I'm not and I don't care, but where exactly are we going? Do any of you have directions, or something?" He leaned back in his chair with nonchalance, not caring about the yelps of surprise he invoked from the other passengers.

"Vanitas, we're the ones who are meant to be following your heart! You _are_ the directions!" Roxas shrieked, obviously alarmed. They told him before what he had to do, was he not listening?

"Wait, so you really meant for me to follow my heart? I didn't think you were all stupid enough to actually mean it!"

They all had their shared reactions. Xion, sighing in slight defeat, already exhausted by their new addition, Roxas, burying his hands in his face and groaning loudly, and Lea, smacking the palm of his hand into his face repeatedly.

"You've been telling me all along that I have to do this, but you never really explained how. Someone care to now?"

In all fact, they couldn't really explain it. And Roxas and Xion, being at the forefront of Sora's heart, were the only ones could remember things through his enduring journey. Sure, it was bits and pieces, but it was still something. And it was mainly what sparked the most emotion in his heart. Joy, hope, fear, sadness, <strike>loss</strike>.

As time passed through the years, both Ventus and Vanitas had slipped into the comfort of the background of Sora's heart, being less active, but safe nonetheless. Only motions, grumbles, and vague gestures had been enough to somewhat pass on their message. Sometimes, there are things that can't be replicated through words. 

But the thing that got through the most was Xion's attempt at an explanation. "It's like if your heart had thread tied to it, right? And that thread is connected to all of these other threads, like it splits off somewhere, but they're all connected. Try pulling on that thread and see where it gets us?"

And despite their efforts (which Vanitas described it as terrible, at best), it actually came to some avail. Summoning the Kingdom Key once more, the ebony-haired boy closed his eyes slowly and tightened his grip. And willed everything with his newly found heart into following that connection to the smiley idiot who kept him safe.

A familiar warm feeling spread through his chest, spreading to his clenched fist around the Key, and a blinding beam of light once again shot out of the blade. _Just like before..._

The location as to where the light ended up was directly outside the ship, twisting the space around it, and eventually opening a swirling, glowing mass. A portal.

"That actually worked?!" Lea squawked, but suddenly remembering the others's presence, he managed to calm himself and return his demeanour to its regular, relaxed self as he coughed slightly. "I mean, yeah, it worked! Of course it did! Never had any doubts!"

Of course, none of the other passengers believed his blatant and thinly veiled lies and shot him a look of irritation, but they had all held their first feeling of hope they'd had in 4 months. This would lead them somewhere, and they'd find out where soon enough. 

Or at the very least, they'd hoped, somewhere they might have been prepared for. Or enjoyed. And a snowy mound of a world didn't really seem all that appealing to any of them.

Especially Lea, who seemed particularly stressed with his furrowed brows and quickened breathing about going to a world filled with frost.

"Of course it's not that simple." He huffed. "Why would anything be?"

None of them had expected to see any of this, but as they descended from the skies, they started to notice the landscape, or what little they could see from the white, roaring mist covering everything. The glacial sea, shimmering the reflected light off it, right next to the tall mounds of elegant ice flowing serenely throughout it. The towering, daunting mountains had small parts of beauty dotted throughout its intimidating and looming presence. And as they began to approach closer, they noticed a quaint little town. Upon closer inspection, it was actually a kingdom, grand and vast.

Roxas and Xion had looked outside for the whole time, enamoured with the appearance, but less going outside and dealing with the cold.

And Vanitas...

"No. Fuck that noise."

"Come on, Vanitas, this is where your heart led us!" Roxas coaxed. "We have to check it out, it could be connected to Sora!"

Vanitas's groans of digust, disdain, and pure hatred of having to do things turned into something close to acceptance and willingness.

Thanks to the white, foggy snow and harsh winds that covered the atmosphere, everywhere was a secluded area for them to park the Gummiship. Even despite its garish yellow paint job, it wouldn't be seen by any of the world's inhabitants. But still being wary, they decided to park near the secluded mountains.

"We're not going out there like this, are we?" Xion voiced, her concerns for all of the passengers' health in mind.

"Not if I have anything to say about it." Lea deadpanned, summoning his own Keyblade. In preparation for visting other worlds, Donald had lectured Lea (literally lectured, including a 3 hour monologue on the 'world order') about cases where they would have to blend in with the people of the world they would be visiting. Hopefully, the spell he was taught could be exploited.

He raised his fiery blade above his head as it started to glow brightly. Before they knew it, the light shone so brightly and enveloped them all that they closed their eyes and tried to shield their eyes from it. But, when they opened them, they all found themselves wearing new clothes, perfectly equipped and suited to their situation. 

Each of them found themselves in a puffy, insulating coat with thick trousers, but not thick enough to stop them from moving efficiently, topped off with hiking boots to traverse the snowy surroundings.

"Maybe a little warning next time? Ugh, let's just get this over with and find the idiot already." Vanitas huffed, already preparing to complain about the snow.

"Remember, we're looking for anything that might help us get to where Sora is. Got it memorised?"

"Lea, if you say that one more time, I'm going to hit your elongated legs with a stick." Roxas taunted with a small giggle from Xion and a snort from Vanitas, but still making a mental note of what to look for on their journey.

Stepping outside, they were all grateful to Lea for their new clothes (even Vanitas, even if he didn't express it more than a simple grunt that they interpreted as 'thanks', but it was still something), and wondered how they would have even thought of doing this without it.

Remembering the kingdom they had seen on their descent, they decided their first course of action would be to follow the sights to there. It took no less than 20 minutes, but Vanitas's preparations had come into use, complaining and grumbling every time he was met with some snow finding its way into his shoes and melting into a cold, mushy slop. He may not have been only negativity anymore, but he sure had a lot of hatred for snow, apparently.

"Look, I think we're almost there! I can see the castle!" Roxas declared, with the peak of a grandiose turret coming into view, its colours differentiating from the normal grey and brown into shades of aquamarine and icy-blue. "And it looks like they've cleared out some of the snow from the town!"

Hearing this, Vanitas suddenly picked up his pace, trudging through the snow ahead of all the others, finding the sudden motivation to leave the frost covered mountains.

Reaching the town was a sight to see, with houses scattered everywhere, a friendly environment with children running around the town square, and an elegantly sculpted ice fountain in the middle. Seemed like this place really liked their snow.

Although, through their eavesdropping in the centre of town, they did learn about something that the inhabitants didn't like. Heartless.

Apparently, they'd been swarming the mountains more recently and progressing nearer to the town. Whoever the Queen was of this place had apparently done somewhat of a good job fortifying the townspeople, but they knew what they had to do.

"Sorry, Vanitas, looks like we're gonna have to go back into the snow to fight the Heartless." Xion declared with false sympathy, secretly finding his reactions hilarious.

"Proposition: what if we _didn't_?" He replied, half joking but half dreading the snow with his face expressing the same sentiment. But he'd have to do it if they wanted to get anywhere in their little search.

Trekking back up the mountains proved to be worse. Uphill, snow, and having to fight for hours on end on the way there. Yeah, not one aspect of that was fun.

Nevertheless, the trio of friends greatly enjoyed any time they got to spend together. After that long of an absence and such painful goodbyes, none of them really felt like being separated again.

And Vanitas, whilst he may not have said it outwardly, he was starting to enjoy their company. 

But, his thoughts were quickly interrupted by the formation of a swarm of Heartless circling them. They'd only made it halfway up the mountain, and yet, their masses were surprising and unexpected.

"I thought Sora locked this world's Keyhole?" Roxas finally questioned and lamented, already tiring slightly after his previous fights with fewer Heartless on their way up to the higher mountains. "Why are these still here?" 

"Maybe it's a side effect of him leaving?" Xion offered (not having the courage to say 'gone').

Whatever it was, they needed to get rid of them. And fast. If they reached the town, the defences might last some time, but they'd come down, sooner or later.

Xion, taking initiative, summoned her Keyblade and charged forth, bashing a Heartless on the head and it promptly dissolving back to the shadows. Roxas, rushing to her side and summoning both Oathkeeper and Oblivion into his hands, slashing through the shadowy creatures and sliding onto the next.

Lea was preoccupied with keeping the area as dry as possible for them to fight efficiently in by burning all the excess snow (and a few Heartless), slowly exhausting himself, but he had to persevere. Vanitas, being the most experienced fighter out of all of them (but never before on their side), took to Lea's side to protect him of any incoming attacks. He slashed through three Heartless that were leaping at their hearts, and summoned a Dark Firaga from the tip of the Keyblade, locking onto several imminent targets, immediately sinking back to the void.

If any Nobodies showed up, it would have been a complete surprise within the monotonous snow, being barely able to decipher where they were walking.

Luckily, none did, but unluckily, it was more Heartless. Roxas and Xion were beginning to tire, with their movements getting slower and starting to favour yet slack on their defensive positions. Larger Heartless appearing spelled more bad news for them. They had already depleted their magic resources, focusing on physical attacks. Roxas had mustered up the last of his magic to transform into a single stream of light, bouncing from enemy to enemy and destroying them.

Xion was more adept with her physical attacks, using her new Keyblade as a battering ram to impale the Heartless and quickly turning on her heels to prevent an incoming attack. She had only recently found out that much like her newly found identity and confidence in such, it came with a new Keyblade. The vermilion centre was outlined with a pale white tone, forked at the end into three branches, each edge as sharp as the next. The handle was much easier for her to hold, like it was truly belonging to her, not just borrowed.

She too trained with Kairi, honing her skills, and putting them to good use in the mountains. Remembering to give thanks to Lea later for clearing their surroundings, she swiftly ducked as they swiped from above. This wasn't good.

All of them were becoming exhausted after continuous hours of fighting and the progressively dark skies. It was only thanks to Vanitas that Lea hadn't completely burned himself out and collapsed (with Vanitas begrudgingly assisting with only furrowed brows and a few grumbles).

The winds picking up and the barrage of harsh winds assaulting them made it less safe by the second for them to remain outside. Most of the Heartless were gone anyways, so they too had to find cover before being enveloped by the raging snowstorm.

"We aren't going to make it back to the town in time and it isn't safe to go back in this weather. We'll find some temporary shelter and stay there for the night and then we can leave this nightmare." Lea yelled over the strong winds blocking out his voice, limping with Vanitas to lead the others to a small cave he had seen earlier.

The twilight skies quickly segued to their pitch black void above, barely visible through the slicing sheet of snow in the air around them.

Thankfully, nothing else seemed to be inhabiting the cave, creating a temporary sanctuary for them to find a much needed minute of reprieve. They all sunk into the walls heavily and slumped onto the floor, appreciative of the fact that they weren't going to have to fight for now.

"Thanks, Lea." Roxas declared with an appreciative grin on his face. "Without your backup, we wouldn't have been able to fight those Heartless."

Lea started to shrug it off, until Vanitas spoke up not to shortly after. "Yeah, uh, thanks."

They were all shocked. Vanitas? Giving _thanks_? Roxas and Xion were left agape whilst Lea was stuck in complete surprise.

"Yeah, don't get too excited, flame boy." He rolled his eyes. "You might not be hearing it again."

Vanitas' nickname of Lea gave rise to a few giggles from Roxas and Xion, until his scathing gaze shot to them.

"Shut it, _rucksack_ and _xylophone_."

And then it was Lea's turn to laugh at them, with a few small snorts and huffs from Vanitas. 

"Awh, _Vani_, that's so sweet!" Xion marveled.

"So you heard Ven call me that, huh? You're now on my list of people to punch." Vanitas threatened, but secretly tested out the boundaries of calling his friends by their names (even if they weren't present). Apparently, people didn't like to be called morons. Revolutionary.

Their conversation dissolved over the next few minutes, with Vanitas being an active participant, until they realised that they were just sitting in a damp cave, freezing cold.

Their temperatures were dropping slowly (thanks to their protective clothing) but they needed a fire, something to sustain their fleeing warmth. Once again, Lea came to their rescue and he scrambled for a few nearby logs and lit them ablaze safely in the middle of the cave, depleting what was left of his fighting strength.

Suddenly finding a moment of peace and remembering Vanitas' salty reaction to the snow previously, a smirk passed between the trio of friends.

"So, Vanitas, how's the snow been?" Roxas commented.

"Ha ha. I'm kinda used to being pelted with ice and snow in the _face_. Ever fought Aqua? Really loves that damn magic."

In just the mere mention of fighting their allies, their own memories were sparked. "You know, we have quite a history of fighting each other." Lea surmised, with oddly placed pride.

"Really? Who's the toughest out of you three?" Vanitas pondered with genuine curiosity. Both Roxas and Lea raised their hands to point and say in sync, "Xion", to the girl with her eyes closed in glory and pride. She may have not looked the most intimidating out of the three of them, but Xion could be a beast in battle if she needed to be.

One would have thought that this would have been a sensitive subject for them all, being a traumatic experience for them all. But, it was quite the contrary, even going as far as making jokes about it to one another.

"I won't lie, she almost beat my ass into the ground with our fight on the clocktower." Roxas scoffed. "Goddamn, Xion, how do you do it?"

"I'm not revealing my best secrets to any of you!" She giggled.

It was quite nice to Vanitas, hearing them be friends. Laughing together, sharing memories together. Although, he'd definitely have to gain Aqua's, Terra's, and Ventus' trust a bit more if he was to do that. _Hey, guys, remember around 10 years ago when I ruined your lives and terrorised you, putting you through hell? Ha ha ha! _Yeah, he could already see how that would go down.

At least he knew now that he truly felt remorseful for what'd he'd done. He was already changing his ways. If he would be hearing any of this friendship bullshit 10 years ago, he probably would have gagged and tried to kill them.

But now? He was taking a chance, and making friends. Trying to be a trustworthy person. He wasn't the same person he was 10 years ago, or in the Keyblade Graveyard...

Out of nowhere, Vanitas' expression dropped solemnly at the mention of memories as he recalled some of his most recent.

"Did the old man actually do it?"

"Hmm?" Lea's laughter died down with the rest of them at the notice of his solemn tone.

"Did he... did he manage to forge the X-blade? To summon Kingdom Hearts?"

"We weren't there when he actually did it, but when we arrived, it was there, looming over all of our heads." Roxas had already regretted not being there for Sora, to help him out when he could have just like Sora had done for him, maybe they could've taken down Xehanort before he managed to do anything if he had had some extra help!-

There wasn't any point thinking about that now. And as much as he wished he could have helped Sora, he remembered the rush of emotions he got from being reunited with his friends for so long, and he wouldn't trade that for anything. Plus, Lea said that they all had some 'plot points' they had to iron out. Whatever that meant. 

_"Listen, don't think about it too much, it'll just give you a headache. I'll remind you about it later, alright?"_

"I didn't think he'd actually get that far."

"Yeah, neither did we." Lea admitted, slightly bashful. "He caught us in a vulnerable moment, but thanfully, Sora was able to close it with-"

"Sorry." Vanitas blurted out. _Shit. _

Well, he was never one to keep his thoughts to himself, anyways.

And apparently, none of them were expecting that. "I, uh, didn't know you felt that way. Wanna talk about it?"

With a deep sigh, he continued, maintaining his morose tone, no longer mocking. "When I was with Xehanort at that time, I didn't know what I was doing. He possessed me, like his other lackeys, just doing his work for him. I don't really know what I was feeling then, but I know it wasn't all me."

"Ah, got the good old 'nort huh?"

"What?" Vanitas stuttered incredulously._ What... the fuck?_

Thankfully answering the question for him, Lea continued. "That's just what we call being possessed by Xehanort. Happened to Xion, you know. You guys were in the Organisation at the same time, you don't remember?"

"I mean, I remember that there was someone, but no-one could remember them. I didn't know it was _her_." 

"Yep, old norty nort got me. I'm not his puppet anymore, and no-one else's. You aren't either. You're free too now." She finished with a smile.

Huh. That was true. And with each passing second it brought him more and more joy. _Joy..._

As he relished his moments of freedom, he was instantly alerted by other people's yelps of alarm. _Oh shit, oh fuck-_

"What is that?!" Roxas exclaimed, not summoning his Keyblade at the new 'threat', but still wary of it.

The 'threat' itself wasn't really... much of one. Similar in appearance to the Unversed that Vanitas had created just before, it looked just like a flood, with the Unversed symbol emblazoned on its side, but with inverted colours, its eyes a deep cobalt and the rest of it a calm ivory. It had a strange aura to it, almost like it was glowing with light. Nevertheless, everyone else was physically tensed, unsure of this unknown potential danger.

"It's an Unversed, a physical manifestation of my negative emotions." Vanitas explained shakily. "Although, they don't usually look like... this."

"Awh, it's kinda cute!" Xion started to relax after knowing what it was. She was getting to know Vanitas better, she trusted him not to hurt her.

Slowly, she shuffled forward towards the fledgling creature, it starting to slow down in its movements and crawl towards her to nuzzle into the palm of her hand. Sort of like a dog would, allowing them all to feel more comfortable around the new creature.

"He doesn't look all that negative. You sure it's an Unversed?"

"Well, what else would it be, dipshit?" Vanitas was clearly getting more and more agitated by the situation, either from the panic or their sudden, startling reactions. 

But, despite his panic, things were actually going... reasonably well?

Xion and Lea had already calmed down, understanding that it wasn't a threat, and started warming up to their tiny, new addition, petting it and scratching its head, which it seemed to enjoy. Roxas, talking to Vanitas, unclenched his fists (that he didn't even know he did to begin with) and trusted him. They were getting to know him, and if he wanted to hurt them, he would have already done by this point. He wouldn't have helped out with the fighting, he wouldn't have even agreed to come in the first place!

Xion coaxed Roxas over from Vanitas to join in their adoration of the minuscule Unversed, while Vanitas stayed where he was, his brows remaining furrowed. He didn't think their reactions would go like that, but at the same time, it wasn't as bad as he expected.

He could trust them. His... _friends_. 

Xion, realising an opportunity that was too good to miss out, rifled through her bag frantically in an attempt to find her Gummiphone. Using her newly found photography skills (Pence had been teaching her in her free time), she took a photo of the creature that she was cradling in her arms and quickly sent it off to Isa.

**saltyashecc**: ISA EMERGENCY YOU GOTTA SEE THIS [pubpy.img]

**saltyashecc: **i'm Love .., h e <3 can we keep it p l e a s e

**ISA**: Xion, as dear as that is, I think we're content with our current amount of rampant animals in the house. And we have the dog.

**saltyashecc**: :((

Vanitas cautiously shuffled towards the others and promptly declared with a small grin on his face, "Alright, that's enough. The Unversed is going away now."

"Noooo!" Xion pleaded, her affection for the dog-like creature taking precedent. "Five more minutes, please?"

"Nope. The small thing is mine and I'll be taking it back now."

Vanitas briefly closed his eyes and took a deep breath, somehow figuring out how to retract the Unversed. When he opened his eyes once more, there was no more Unversed - just a glum looking Xion huddling into Lea and Roxas as they consoled her 'loss'.

In an effort to ease the mood in the room (well, cave), Lea gestured, "Hey, anyone up for ice cream?"

"Where did you get that?!" A chorus of confusion yelled out at the sudden appearance of the sea-salt ice cream, both Roxas and Xion leaping back.

Did this guy just carry ice cream with him like that? Did he have a freezer he took around they didn't know about?

Either way, their startled and somewhat horrified faces finally managed a feeble response. "I-I think we're... good. Not really the weather for _ice cream_."

"Eh, suit yourself. That just means more for me!" And upon saying so, he stuck to his word. He gorged himself on the blue bar he held in his hand, engulfing half of it in one go, sparking groans of disgust from everyone else.

Eventually, they had all tired themselves out, and judging by the skies outside and their slowly dimming fire, it was time for them to go to sleep to prepare for their next day.

Thankfully, they had prepared themselves for a scenario like this. They had all prepared their sleeping bags instead of sleeping on the cold, damp, cave floor.

Lea, yawning loudly, managed to quickly drawl out, "Good night, guys, you too, Vani.", before slumping into his cushion with a small thud and a quiet snore.

Vanitas muttered a small 'good night' to the others, barely audible, but he could have sworn that he had heard a small response from the others. Maybe this wasn't going to be so torturous for him, after all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i'm so mad. i'm so MAD because i had a full draft of this chapter two weeks after i wrote the last and then my computer crashed and i didn't save it so i had to write the whole damn thing again can i get an f in the chat boys


	8. Sea-Salt Saltiness (Part 2)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Vanitas learns to work with others as they take their last challenge in this new world before they move on. That is, if they can get through this one.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> no remind spoilers because i will most likely cry doing so 
> 
> and like over 800 hits... y'all are real hungry for that vanitas content huh
> 
> same

A pale light streamed in from outside, prompting the four inhabitants of the cave to get up and ready for their day. Their long, arduous day. In snow. Vanitas suddenly had less incentive to wake up.

"Too early." Lea groaned.

"You don't even know the time." Xion countered smugly, scoffing, yet also tired.

"Too _early_." He reiterated, however, accepting his unfortunate fate and slowly getting up.

Roxas had always been a heavy sleeper. Even with blinding sunlight in his face, glazing over his shut eyelids, he was persistent in staying in. And his bedhead was something to be feared. If it had looked out of control before, it was a mangled heap of chaos in the mornings. Lea was the only one who could manage to rival his, but years of managing his fiery, flaming locks had worked out well for him.

Xion, on the contrary, had never liked sleeping for too long. Despite being a night owl mostly, she had always been the first one up. Whenever Roxas or Lea had finally woken up and ventured downstairs in their residence in Twilight Town, she was always there before them somehow.

What none of them had expected though, was for Vanitas to be an even heavier sleeper than Roxas. For as much as he put on his tough and snarky exterior, he slept like a giant baby. Literally. After several attempts of trying to wake him through calling his name in varying volumes, shaking him, making the loudest noises they could, it was to no avail.

Luckily, it was Xion's turn with the brain cell. And she remembered what he _loved_: snow.

Right in the face.

Luckily, it worked out and he woke up. Unluckily, it invoked his fight-or-flight reflex, and he was a fighter.

"Oh, what the absolute fuck?!" Vanitas gasped desperately for air, summoning his Keyblade on instinct, his eyes darting around the area in preemptive anger and slight fear. All that he found was a hysterically giggling Xion with Roxas and Lea covering their mouths, as if they were trying their best to restrain themselves from laughing.

"Oh, ha ha, real funny." He scowled in mock aggression, brushing off the melting snow on his face. "I _will_ get you back for this, we'll just see how you like it then."

As the giggles died down, they were reminded of their purpose of their presence in that world with the formation of a shadowy bug-like creature emerging from the dark corner of the cave. If the Heartless were appearing again, the Keyhole must have had some reaction to the bearer who locked it with their Keyblade. It was the Guardians of Lights' jobs to seal the darkness away to protect the people of the worlds.

And now Vanitas was here, and he was helping them, the two teenagers thought as he batted away the creature back to the depths. All Roxas and Xion were taught in the Organisation was that darkness was inherently evil and malicious, opposed to good. But, to everything they witnessed, they were all starting to unlearn their false truths. 

"We have to get going if we want to get to a good space before the snowstorm gets us. And believe me, I _really_ don't wanna get caught in that again." Lea reminisced, remembering how it drained him of his energy to even stand in the hurtling white flakes.

As they packed up everything that had remained in the cave and stomped out the dwindling fire, they once again set out. They had a goal: to find the Keyhole, close it, and move on. 

Easier said than done.

Hour 3 of searching (and Vanitas' complaints) proved to find nothing except for more and more Heartless. Whilst chugging a Hi-Potion to replenish his lost strength, Lea huffed and sighed overdramatically. "Vanitas, I thought we were following your heart. Quick question, where exactly is that taking us?"

"Looks like it's into another fight, look alive!" Roxas quickly interjected, alerting the others of the imminent danger approaching as Xion finished tying up her hair to get ready to fight.

Immediately summoning her own Keyblade, Xion struck down the small Heartless crawling towards her, not expecting it to only be thrown back a few feet behind her. Persistent.

Roxas, noticing her annoyed demeanour, also summoned both Oathkeeper and Oblivion, striking the Heartless down and sending a combined blast of a Fira towards three more skittering around like lost ants, trying to locate their colony.

Disappearing into ashen smoke, Lea charged through, slinging his own blade over his shoulder, as if to strike overhead, with several airborne Heartless closing in on them, circling them. Luckily, Lea began to prepare a circle of flames around him, blasting them out of the air and out of existence.

Seeing the perfect opening, Vanitas spied a large Heartless preparing to pounce on the vulnerable Lea, regaining his strength and having to plant his Keyblade into the ground to lean on it to catch a breath. Calculating the exact moment to launch his attack, he dissipated into the shadows in the ground and rose out of the darkness to strike before they even had the chance to spot their new predator. 

"Having fun yet, Vani?" Lea remarked, raising an eyebrow.

"Name one fucking aspect of this that is remotely enjoyable, I dare you." Vanitas quickly retorted, swiping the underbelly of an incoming Heartless and watching it promptly slink back into shadows.

Roxas and Xion were working in tandem, each supporting the other as they circled each others' back to ward off danger whilst they took a small break in order to replenish their stamina in small intervals. The Heartless didn't seem to be that big of a threat, but the terrain certainly posed many challenges. 

Fortunately, they brought along the guy whose whole thing was fire, to the point that his hair looked as though it had been lit ablaze, mirrored in his Keyblade. With the battle surrounding them, the deafening screeches of metal grinding against Heartless made it near impossible to hear one another, but a quick glare shared between them could always get the message across.

Akin to a warm, welcome summer breeze to them, but deadly to the surrounding icy chill, the snow melted away, leaving only the dew-dropped, emerald grass, allowing them to pivot around to destroy Heartless from both sides without falling into the snow.

But, as soon as the battle was seeming to go into their favour, they all stopped in their tracks. From the corner of their eyes, rolling rampantly down the icy hill was a wave of Heartless, ready to knock them all the way down.

They all prepared their stances, preparing for the best possible outcome of the scenario, each of them 'meticulously' planning in their heads their next course of action in a race of time against the incoming threat.

Thinking preemptively, Vanitas blasted the incoming barrage with a directed Dark Firaga, destroying a fair few, but not enough.

Lea couldn't get a precise shot on the fast moving bundle, unable to target any of them without missing his chance.

Both Xion's strike raids and Roxas' Graviga seemed to do nothing to even slow it down in its path of destruction. All they could do was cast Reflega and count their timings correctly.

"On the count of three!" Roxas yelled over the large stampede. "One, two, ..."

All of them standing in a row pointed their Keyblades forth, once again preparing for the imminent onslaught. "Three!"

The barrier formed just in time, with some Heartless recoiling from the direct hit, and the others sliding to either side of them, beginning to unravel their masses into more manageable groups of swaddling, lost hearts.

As the barrier dropped, Xion and Lea jumped to their left, whilst Vanitas and Roxas dodged to the right, reaching out to catch some stragglers as they did with small flurries of blows dealt.

As they were finally spread out, Roxas took a deep breath and once again cast Graviga, this time, getting the spell to work with non-moving targets. Those that tried to scrape desperately at the ground as a last-ditch attempt to not get sucked into the swirling vortex above them were slowly sucked into the spiral.

Vanitas once again saw the perfect opportunity, striking as hard as he could, bringing down the edge of his Keyblade as hard as he could with the weight of the earth on it, before switching tactics to magic, following suit with Roxas and bludgeoning the remaining Heartless with an assault of magic, with Thunder and Firas and Aerogas being blasted at them before none of them remained.

Things on the other side of the battlefield started to clear up as well, with Lea and Xion executing their pincer manoeuvre on the last remaining Heartless before no more inky darkness stained the fragile surface of the snow.

"Thanks for having my back, Vanitas." Roxas admitted, hanging his hands apon his hips, taking a slight pause to gain some energy back after expending him of such.

"Yeah, same here. And same goes for Lea, I'm sure." Xion smiled and threw her hand behind her to point behind her to the exhausted Lea, obviously not having as much practice as the two young wielders, but still being able to keep at a (somewhat) constant pace. 

Vanitas grunted, shrugging off the shows of gratitude, secretly accepting the praise, and unclenching his focused face which he hadn't even noticed had been stressed beforehand.

But, maybe some of that stress was necessary. Just as Lea was starting to pick himself off of his support, he once again found need for it as the very earth beneath them began to tremble and quake.

"Um, guys? What was that?" Xion chimed in, her voice in a near-whisper in shock. What could cause something like that, something that could rupture the very ground?

"My bet's on that." Vanitas deadpanned, pointing his hand dead ahead to a nearby mountain. At first glance, the picturesque ranges seemed as they should. Although, it was apparent that they all noticed that one of the mountains was dark, large, and moving.

"Woah! We should maybe go check on the town now, just to make sure that everyone's alright, come on." Roxas urged the others, already taking steps towards his destination. "They have defences, but they might not last against a Darkside, especially one that big."

"Or maybe we should just do what we came here to do, they can deal with that themselves." Vanitas scoffed, rolling his eyes in exasperation._ We've already been here too damn long. _"The whole saving people thing is for you guys, but I never said that I'm one of you. I'm just here on my own terms to repay a favour to someone, that's all. Never promised to help anyone else along the way."

"Vanitas, whether you 'like it' or not, we're going to help those people. It's our duty. Are you really going to let all of those people in that town get hurt?" She raised an eyebrow incredulously, almost not believing what she was hearing.

"Vani-" Roxas started but was immediately cut off with Vanitas' harsh tone.

"Don't 'Vani' me. We came here to get something done, so you guys can go fuck around with the 'people of this world' or whatever, and I'll actually be getting something done." He finished, his raised voice cutting through the icy air like a roaring flame.

"Fine! You wanna go off by yourself in this shitstorm of snow, be my guest!" Roxas huffed, infuriated with the attitude he was met with. Was he not trying to change? Did he really not care about the people? Was this all about having to pay back some 'favour'?

And, just like that, they parted ways, leaving opposing snow tracks and a deadly tension in the air.

\---

Vanitas growled to himself whilst shivering from the mounds of freshly-dropped snow he was surrounded by, feeling a slight stinging pain from the edges of his fingertips being enveloped by frost, practically turning a light azure hue from the extreme cold.

As he approached a small opening after his prolonged stomps through the thick layers, a slither of garish yellow could be spotted from beneath the heavy snow, practically buried by it. "Stupid Light people, helping idiots, can't get anything done."

Trudging through the snow was even more difficult by himself, with no-one to clear a path for him. But, when you're fuelled by spite and anger, anything's possible.

Thinking back to Roxas' words, he did technically tell him to go away. Never said that it couldn't be off-world. On his angry storm back to the ship, he had formulated an 'ingenious' plan to leave them on the clusterfuck world of snow, see how'd they like to help the people then, as he smiled maliciously to himself.

But as he was about to step foot inside, he halted, unable to move.

Something was stopping him. It felt like something... in his heart.

Was this the light that they had found? The small, unwavering piece of hope for his fate? And why did it have to be so goddamn persistent?

He continuously tried, time and time again, to will his foot onto the Gummiship, but it was to no avail. Nothing worked. Something in his heart was screaming, yelling with all its might to do 'the right thing', apparently. It was like every muscle in his body no longer obeyed his commands, rather being dictated by his heart. He rolled his eyes in frustration, being helpless to do anything else in his situation.

_This must be what they meant. I'm gonna have to 'follow' this shit, right?_

As he inhaled deeply, he watched as his breath left a trail of smoke in its wake.

"Fuck."

Turning around, he knew what it was that he had to do. Even burdened with the world's chosen transformation of clothing, he trudged through the snow with a new-found determination. He raised his Keyblade above his head and charged forward, no obstacle in front of him being able to slow him down.

\---

Roxas stormed off a few feet ahead of Xion and Lea, where they couldn't hear his irritated muttering, or where he could hear their discussion of the events that unfolded.

"I mean, did Vanitas just lose it, or something?" Xion muffled her voice, cupping her hands around her mouth so Roxas couldn't hear.

"I guess this is all new to him, so we should give him a break, but he shouldn't be allowed to just storm off like that." Lea tried to reassure her, attempting to be the mediator in a tense situation.

"Yeah, you're right. Still, I don't know why Roxas got so mad." 

"I know that he put a lot of trust and faith into him, or maybe it could be to do with the fact that he looks very much like a certain somebody?" Lea hissed at the end of his sentence, as if to mimic the severity of Roxas' feelings.

"Has anyone ever told you how much you suck at whispering, Lea?" A loud voice emanated from Roxas, whipping his head around with a stare colder than the ice around them, but slowly softening as he realised the lack of intention to hurt his feelings. "Sorry." He sighed discontentedly.

"It's fine, Rox, but are you alright?" Xion sympathised, a soft hint in her voice.

Before he could answer, opening his mouth, he was once again interrupted with the tremors of the ground. "We should get moving quicker. Lea, little help?" He implied, nodding his head towards him.

A beeline for the town was carved out of the avalanche, making their path safer and quicker. "I owe you one. Sea-salt when we get back?"

"You know, all this is kinda convincing me to take a little break from the cold." Lea shrugged nonchalantly before pinpointing the path to the town, lighting the surrounding blizzard ablaze.

With a straightforward destination in mind, they slogged through the wet mush created by the fiery blaze. "Don't look at me like that! If I burned all of that at once, I'd pass out!" He replied to their unamused glares shot at him, having been stuck in the dirty, damp slush left behind, drenching their clothes, no matter how well equipped they were.

Halfway down their trail, they had clear sight of the town, still having the majority of their own icy defences intact, but not enough to take town the hulking giant they had seen amongst the mountains. As if the mere mention of it had summoned it, the snow that had been on the trees amassed on the ground from the low rumble of the ground.

A giant behemoth composed of dark matter towered before them, marching towards the town with booming footsteps. Dagger-like icicles hung from its claws, the spikes rending rocks it managed to pass by on the mountains, creating chaos below. It was covered in frost, half of its body being seemingly so heavily armoured that it looked as though it was made of the glacial substance, coating its body in crystal fragments. It bellowed a mighty roar before taking another lunge forward, focused on its target.

It hadn't spotted them, either disguised by the snow beneath them or so far below it, unable to be seen. Either way, they had the element of surprise, and they had all the intent to use it to their advantage.

Summoning their Keyblades, they began to discuss a battle strategy between them as quick as they could.

"Me and Roxas will go on the offensive. Lea, you focus on stopping it in its path before it can get any closer to the town. We can't have any of the people getting hurt from this." Xion focused.

"Got it." Lea nodded, rushing over to a good vantage point to focus on preventing it to get to the town.

"Roxas, you have the advantage in physical attacks, so you attack from behind and I'll focus on magic." She continued to strategise, pacing around in a small circle whilst fiddling with the chain of her Keyblade. "I'll try using some to get it to stay in place, but with a Heartless that big, I don't know how long it's gonna hold, or if it even will."

"The ice looks way too tough to break through, so I'll go for the head." They both wished each other luck for their specified tactics, and then set off to see it in effect.

Xion made the first move, charging up a powerful Thundara, temporarily stopping it in its tracks. Unfortunately, it was only for it to look down and acquire a new target, sought out to destroy any obstacles.

It reached out its long tendril-like claws to attack, but just in time, a wave of fire came bursting through the snow, stopping it from getting any closer and causing it to recoil in pain. Xion turned to look at Lea and send him a quick thumbs-up, thankful for the quick save.

Recovering from the stinging, it was about to take another step forwards. Roxas began to hop up the side of the mountain (a little trick he saw from Sora that he liked to call: gravity is just a suggestion) until he reached a good enough spot that he could leap forward to bludgeon the side of the creature's head with both ends of his Keyblades, imbuing the tips of it with electricity to get in a good enough shot that was enough for it to rotate its whole body.

It glared at its new opponent with its gargantuan, amber orbs it held in its head. Roxas continued to deal flurries of blows, occasionally switching his position to make himself harder to hit. All it took was one mistimed jump and a surprisingly quick hand belonging to the beast for Roxas to be held in its clutches.

The creature seemed somewhat amused at his attempts, his stare lingering on him for several seconds, as if unsure of what to do with him. But, it had clearly made its decision when he was flung out of his hand, hurtling into the snow.

Xion casted Cure as soon as she hurried to his side, delaying the Darkside's progression with a substantial Graviga, enough to keep it in place for long enough.

"Are you alright?"

"At least the snow is soft." Roxas groaned, propping himself up with both Keyblades, his head spinning from hitting the soft surface with such ferocity. 

"Guys! Little help?" Lea yelled as he got into close contact with its frozen legs, whacking away, barely being able to make a mere scratch.

Even with the others by his side, not a single blow could permeate the surface of compact snow surrounding it. They all rebounded back after a particularly strong hit, exhausted by their continued efforts. The blockade of fire Lea had created earlier had seemed to ward off the attempts being made, but they knew that it wouldn't last for a long time.

"How are we gonna stop it? The plan didn't work." Roxas panted, trying to regain his breath.

"Because you have my help now." A voice came closer, belonging to a boy clad in black, heavy snow-gear with a determined grin on his face.

"Vanitas. You came back to help." Xion grinned, happy at his arrival and the extra assistance.

"I'm not really used to helping people, I'm usually the one causing the misery. Or, at least, I was." He recounted, remembering all that he had done, and how what he was doing now was so significantly different, that he never would have even thought to do it.

"The fact that you came back just proves that you are capable of change. Would the old you do that?" Lea smirked, standing up off the snow and brushing it out of his hair.

"Well, you guys infected me with your stupid ass moral shit. Thanks for that." He noted before dodging out of the way of a protruding hand, closing in to crush him.

"Looks like we gotta focus on the fight. We've tried attacking the head and the legs, but it didn't work. Any other suggestions?" Roxas inquired, being sure not to slip on any of the snow whilst vacating the area of danger.

Vanitas looked at the colossal Heartless whilst dodging its fervent attacks, examining every aspect of it and determining their next course of action.

"Its weak point is near its chest, see how most of the ice originates from there? That's where we need to strike next. And fire? Good idea. Fire beats ice."

"Now we're talking!" Lea exclaimed, preparing the others to go and engulfing the bottom half of the Heartless in flames, singeing and melting away its outer armour, allowing Xion to cast Graviga, this time getting the spell to be sustained for longer with its quickly deteriorating armour being chipped away by Lea and Roxas.

Vanitas pursued the Darkside from above, bringing his Keyblade down in a forward motion before teleporting backwards to fire off a Dark Firaga. As he stepped back, trying his best not to slip or get crushed, he could see why the Heartless' arms were occupied and not trying to crush them once more.

They were raised above its head, appearing to be forging a large chunk of ice to be pelted at the small specks trying to hurt it. It kept getting larger and larger, with their attacks no longer seeming to affect it in terms of pain, all of its focus directed at the large sphere, compressed with crystal.

Catching the others' attention, he began motioning to the others to prepare a joint attack. "Xion, Roxas, you two make it notice and attack you, then reflect it when it comes in. Lea, you're with me, it's going to be vulnerable after throwing that thing."

Xion began directing her magic use with weaker spells at the giant's face whilst Roxas threw his Keyblades in unison in a combined strike raid. With the way that its head tilted downward to look at its pursuers, they had managed to catch its attention.

Before it could get any larger, the creature swung its arms downward, the icy ball catapulting towards them at high speeds. The two partners stood side to side, both counting down the opportune time to exact their spell.

"Now!" They yelled in unison, holding their Keyblades before them, blocking the attack with all their might and the sustained shield casting Reflega, both of them straining under the immense pressure they were put against.

Right on cue, as the sphere gained momentum to charge back to the sender, the other two attacked it with a sweep of their Keyblades across its chest, causing it to stumble around, destroying the terrain around it.

"Get around it and start charging Fira, we'll send it off at the same time, it should finish it off!" Xion directed them to do, all of them promptly following suit.

The stumbling had turned into swaying in place, the Heartless practically one hit away from being finished. Its claws, previously covered in frost, grabbed its face to try to block out the pain, its defences fully gone.

"On the count of three!" Lea announced.

"One!" Roxas continued.

"Two!" Xion anticipated.

"THREE!" Vanitas finished, being knocked back from the ferocity of the powerful spell he launched from the tip of his Keyblade, all of them converging to one target.

As it collided with its chest, the dark matter began to fade away, wisps of it floating towards the sky before revealing the glowing heart emanating from the shadowy mess.

They all reveled in their victory, having prevented the town's destruction, before falling flat on their backs into the soft snow.

As they all let out a deep sigh, the adrenaline wearing off and the exhaustion seeping into their bones, Roxas wondered aloud.

"Wait, Vani, did you walk all the way here?" 

"Yeah, what about it?"

"...Did you forget that you could use the Corridors?"

"No, of course not, I'm not an idiot." He lied, only being hit with that realisation now. "Just... thought it might be safer now that there's Light in my heart."

"Are you saying that you _followed your heart_ here?" Xion teased, with Lea having a smug smirk on his demeanour. Roxas let out a small giggle and Vanitas actually smiled (even though he'd deny it if anyone saw).

As they stared into the sky as the snow fell lightly, so unlike the blizzard before, they felt at peace, something they hadn't felt for the entirety of the duration of their stay in that world.

As much as they wanted to relax and take a break for once, the faint, glimmering outline of a familiar shape created a stark outline in the sky, denying them of such luxuries.

"The Keyhole!" Roxas exclaimed, knowing what it meant. "Vani, you ready to close it for good?"

"And leave this shithole? Finally."

He began correcting his posture, standing straight on his feet, planted firmly in the ground, dismissing his own Keyblade and switching it out for one better equipped for the job at hand.

The Kingdom Key began to gather light at its tip, absorbing all that it could around it, ready to be fired into the unlocked Keyhole to fulfil its purpose and stop the Heartless' appearance in that world.

The snow around them began to sway lightly around the metal, twirling in a sequence. As the light became almost blinding, it was fired into the sky, launching like a rocket, the beam reaching its way to the empty Keyhole and filling it once and for all, leaving the world devout of Heartless.

"Ready to head back?" Xion asked, her focus still half attentive to the spectacle she witnesses, a literal light show to behold.

"Only if we can we promise never to come back here." Lea affirmed, picking himself up off of the ground and already making his way back to their exit ticket.

Roxas and Lea walked ahead of Xion and Vanitas, discussing the fight they were in immense detail, with Lea picking up parts of it and typing it into his Gummiphone, presumably to Isa, recounting their entire experience.

"Hey, random question, and you don't have to answer if you don't want to, but you have your own Keyblade, right? It's the one you were using before? " Xion speculated.

"What's your point?" Vanitas responded hesitantly, raising an eyebrow.

"Why are you using Sora's?"

"I..." His face flushed red. He knew, could feel, that his own Keyblade was safe, intact, and able to be summoned, but it was something about this one... He felt comfortable with it.

Maybe it was the fact that it was his connection to the person they were looking for. Maybe not. Either way, he was going to use it to find his goals, which now apparently coincided with the Guardians of Light's.

"I'm just tying up his loose ends. If he's not here to do it, then I might as well until he comes back. I'll... help him out."

Xion smiled at him, happy to hear that he really was on his way to changing his old ways, even if it would take some work. "I'm proud of you, Vani."

"I'm still trying to figure out who I am without just darkness. I feel complete, something I haven't felt in a long time."

Their pace began to slow down as they once again reached a familiar opening, with only a fresh layer of white snow covering the top of the ship.

Making their way onboard, they all took their seats, sitting expectantly for their takeoff.

"Oh, Xion? I, uh, need to tell you one more thing. It's really important." Vanitas remarked quickly, a serious disposition appearing on his face and his hands hidden behind his back.

"Of course! What is it?" 

But, she didn't get an answer. What she did get, however, was Vanitas' promised payback of a snowball, a direct hit in the face.

Vanitas cackled, grabbing his stomach, with tears forming in his eyes, as though it was single-handedly the funniest thing he had ever witnessed. Although, with his time with Xehanort, it was presumably devout of joy. Perhaps it really was the best thing he'd seen.

Luckily, they'd have the chance to make new memories with him.

But, as of that occurence, Xion merely stared blankly forwards, the snow dripping off her face, creating small water droplets splashing on the floor. Roxas and Lea had been watching intently, grabbing the edges of their seats to stop them from falling off from their raucous laughter.

Roxas brought down his Gummiphone, with Xion so very luckily being filmed from Roxas' seat, her gracious moment immortalised in data.

"Lea, you were right, let's never return here again. Ever." She stated bluntly, directing him to finally leave with everyone in their ready positions to move.

With the Keyhole locked, the Heartless gone, and their purpose on that world fulfilled, they could finally leave. The moment they hit the atmosphere, the world order no longer had to be maintained and their winter-fitted clothes merged back into their regular, comfortable clothes.

All they had to do was drop Vanitas off with the others to see where their hearts would lead them next. They were closer than ever to finding Sora.

And so, their hearts became their guiding keys.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> consistent pacing and good writing? never heard of her
> 
> i've also been stuck on this chapter for ages because laptop crashed without saving it and writers block but i've got everything else planned out (hopefully)!
> 
> disclaimer: i still hate writing fight scenes. what the fuck 
> 
> also, just like in the game itself, this world was super boring to write


	9. Destiny Is A Powerful Force

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Their next step in their chase for Sora, where Vanitas discovers why they've been pulled to those worlds. And, as usual, it's all connected to that same person.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> just wanna say a quick thanks to everyone's support on this work, every kudos and bookmark and comment and hit means so much to me and it warms my heart to see that i'm making content that people enjoy, and im still super sorry that its taking so long! EDIT: as im writing this i got 1000 hits??? what the actual fuck i thought this would get like 4 but oh my god thank you all, EDIT 2: holy shit two fucking games got announced in the time i was procrastinating writing this lmaooo i really gotta up my game this is gonna be rushed
> 
> anyways back on my bullshit

The pale glistening of far-off worlds illuminated the gauche, bright interior of the Gummiship, with all four of its inhabitants slouched in their designated chairs.

One, in particular, let out an elongated sigh, before groaning and nagging. "When are we going to get there? It's been so long, I've lost track of time already!"

"It's been 30 minutes, Roxas." Vanitas raised an eyebrow with his incredulous tone.

All Roxas had to reply with was a simple huff before edging closer to the left side of his seat, his arms hung over the side as he gazed deeply into the endless expanse of the glimmering expanse before him. "At least I get the window view this time."

"Never the patient one, huh? Well, worry no longer! Ta-da!" Lea announced, presenting the minuscule world before them all, invoking an involuntary gasp from them. No matter how many times they had done it, seeing new worlds in their scenic and idyllic opulence would always be an astonishing experience to them.

"Why do I recognise this place?" Vanitas rested his hand on the bottom of his chin in contemplation, searching his memory for any trace of it.

"Destiny Islands?" Roxas replied, tilting his head. Why would Vanitas come here of all places?

And then he remembered why. His arrogant, belittling, continuous taunting of Ventus, 10 years ago, provoking him for their conflict, all part of 'Master' Xehafuck's brilliant plan. Some plan that was.

"Uh, don't remember. Probably some other reason. Oh, well. Let's just land already." Vanitas coughed, his tough exterior starting to slip away, revealing what had seemed to be remorse and vulnerability.

Obviously sensing that he might have not wanted to talk about it (not from being fooled from his terrible cover up), they pushed no further and shrugged it off, all to Vanitas' unspoken appreciation.

Landing on the aureate sands below them on the far side of the Play Island (with the screech of Donald's 'World Order' still ringing around in their ears), they had met a rough landing from an inexperienced driver such as Lea, but nonetheless, everyone remained intact.

"Intelligence sure doesn't come with age, huh?" Xion sneered, the comment coming out absentmindedly as her focus remained on her phone, contacting Riku, Kairi, and Namine.

"Hey!" Lea cried, practically insulted by the remark, placing the back of his hand on his head over dramatically. "Have some respect for your elders!"

"I'm pretty sure that I'm older than you, flame boy." Vanitas retorted with a small smirk, with the sound of Roxas' muffled laughter in the background echoing faintly.

Before Lea could even try to combat his words, the small, distant but noticeable sounds of footsteps running on the sand towards the ship approached.

As the doors opened and the pale sunlight came beaming in from the picturesque skies, three people came flooding in, rushing onto the ship. "Hey, guys! How are you?" Kairi panted, obviously having run a far distance as soon as she got the text from Xion, as reinforced from her red face.

"Doing alright, and I feel like we're a step closer to finally finding him." Roxas muttered, a soft expression on his face.

"I'm glad to hear it." Riku replied, not nearly as out of breath as the others, due to a lifetime of running across the sandy shores with ease.

Namine, however, wasn't used to running in general, and was hunched over on the side, trying her best to support herself to stay upright with her hand practically gripping the wall, unable to speak from her huffing.

"Uh, Nami, you alright there?" Xion giggled. All Namine could reply with was a shaky thumbs-up, her only indication of reaffirming the others after the horrific ordeal of physical exertion. Xion gently placed her hand on her pale shoulder, guiding her over to her chair to rest up.

"They're- really- fast-!" Namine managed to huff out, with Xion at her side, consoling her, laughing with her in a light, fragile voice.

"So, everything go alright on the mission?" Riku continued, turning his head back towards the new visitors.

"If you're asking if I tried to kill them, it's a no there." Vanitas sneered, picking up on his tone, but clearly not appreciating such.

"Actually, Vanitas was really helpful." Roxas patted his shoulder with a giant grin. "Give him a chance, you'll see."

"_Thanks_, rucksack." His tone dripping with slight disgust at kind words, and regarding himself? That one would take some getting used to.

"Please, just take him." Xion growled, looking away from Namine. "I'm begging you, I may not be able to restrain myself from firing a Blizzara at him for much longer."

"Xion, are you alright?" Riku asked worriedly, not quite understanding what could have caused such aggression, apart from it being Vanitas himself.

"What happened?" Namine asked, her voice dripping with delicate concern for her. Before she could dote on her any longer, Roxas finally pulled out his phone in order to elaborate on Xion's misfortune.

They could barely contain their laughter, cupping their hands over their mouths, but managed to only let out a few huffs in order not to agitate the already rather pissed-off and still half-drenched Xion.

"Ahem, I mean, that's, uh, totally not funny." They coughed, echoed by the faint sounds of Vanitas's laughter from the side.

"Eh, it was kinda payback from me dumping some snow on him before." She shrugged, but clearly not letting the ordeal go.

"I think we're all good to go!" Kairi addressed everyone on the ship. "We can drop you guys off at Twilight Town, if that's alright with you all?"

With an unanimous agreement, the ship began its take-off procedure, and accelerated into the skies. Once again, the empty space surrounding them was soon filled with gleaming spots, perfectly complimenting the darkness surrounding it.

\----

After the last three travellers had been safely delivered to Twilight Town, the ship had once again returned to its regular place; stationary in the middle of space, surrounded by an ebony sea of nothing but scattered.

As Kairi swung her legs over her chair, huffing her last sigh of many during their current journey which so far consisted of sitting and waiting, Vanitas' patience grew shorter.

"Shut up! I get it, alright? This light shit takes time and practice, and let's just say I haven't had a whole lot of practice." He snarled, the tips of his fingers turning white from his tight grip on the edge of his chair.

"It's alright, Van, just have patience with yourself." Namine reassured him with a tilt of her head. "We're all just a little frustrated after his absence for so long. Especially a lovesick certain someone..." She trailed off silently, her eyes darting back and forth to Riku, hunched over the edge of his seat, staring longingly into his phone, swiping and scrolling his thumb against the side of the screen every so often with a solemn and glum expression, and back to Vanitas with one of his eyebrows raised, trying to send the subliminal message.

Vanitas rolled his eyes, making it unclear to Namine whether or not he actually got the message, but decided it was best to leave it there rather than to push.

The air practically went still as Vanitas stretched his arm out in front of him, mimicking the action done many times before by Sora long ago in the very same ship, and a sharp intake of breath could be heard.

As he closed his eyes, squeezing them tightly, he could have sworn that for a brief yet infinite moment of time, an image different than the usual pitch black was in front of him. Something he had seen long ago, glaringly familiar, and shimmering on its multicoloured surface. A mosaic of lightly stained glass scattered around the abyss, forming what had been his and Ventus' battleground all that time ago.

Yet, something differed about this one. Unlike all that time ago, this one wasn't two halves merged together forcefully, amassing the amalgamation of their combined selves. The one who wielded the X-blade, but their internal battle eventually put an end to that. 

No, this one seemed... complete. The one who lay with their face in peaceful slumber on the side, with the ebony coloured glass bestowed on the wild hair displayed on the faceted glass, accented by shades of red, was alone. It belonged to him. Just him.

Even just the slightest, quickest glimpse of it confirmed his suspicions of what it actually was. It was his heart. _His own_ heart.

Although, something was different (aside from it not being forcefully merged with another heart). The tangible, inky darkness that was once encroaching on having total dominion over it like long ago didn't seem to be present. The darkness, of course, was still there, but it was no longer as vicious in its motive for control over the heart. Rather, it hovered protectively over as a faint mist, ensuring its presence, but not as a malevolent force.

Perhaps it was because of the faint hints of azure inching its way through the cracks left on the outer ring of the heart. It flickered, practically like a faulty light bulb, but one that worked nonetheless.

_Light. In my heart._

Just the faintest glimpse of it left him dumbfounded by some truth surrounding the scientists' claims, but nevertheless, he still had a job to do.

He had a dumbass to find.

The sudden flash of light startled everyone on the ship, including Riku, causing him to look up from his moping. The key that they all knew all too well, and their lead on Sora. Their glares were all focused intently on Vanitas as he once again opened a portal to their next destination.

"Well?" Kairi pursued with determination, slowly standing up out of her chair. "Are we going to do this or not?"

All Vanitas had to say in response was a quick scowl and a flick of his head. Of course, Kairi sighed and rolled her eyes, but every other passenger was ready for whatever lay ahead of them.

\----

As the Gummiship made contact with the atmosphere, all they were able to see from afar was greenery. Miles and miles of the same verdant foliage with dashes and blots of the occasional wilting brown patch of leaves. The skies seemed as though they were a reflection of the sea, with no visible smudges of ivory tainting its precious surface, and only the blazing sun above to distinguish the difference.

Thankfully, their clothes had no need to change and adapt to the climate (all to Vanitas's delight). Finding a safe space to land seemed to pose an initial challenge, but a small, yet suspiciously placed clearing made it easy enough to make contact with the ground.

With Riku and Kairi in tow and Vanitas not far behind, Namine slowly stumbled out of the ship as her eyes grew wider to take in all of her surroundings. Ever since getting her own body, she had been enamoured with the scenery of different worlds. The colours, the sights, the smells, the refreshing breeze on her face. Her captivity at Castle Oblivion hadn't given her any freedom, any ability to do things for herself. All she was able to do was concoct her own wild dreams of the spectacles that she had seen in Sora's memories, always remaining just out of her reach, yet so close.

But she was free now. Free to see her own sights when the Gummiship wasn't in use or when someone could help her out, to make her own memories. Any time that Kairi, Riku, or anyone she knew had either seen a rather aesthetically pleasing sight, or they were going off-world, she had always asked for at least one photo for inspiration for her favourite hobby: drawing. It calmed her down when she was feeling scared, or distracted her when she needed it. Anywhere she went, she always carried at least one pack of her favourite pencils and varying sizes of sketchbooks, filled with vibrant and dancing colours.

So when she saw a bushel of flowers (which Aerith had been helping her identify when she had the time in Radiant Garden), she almost couldn't contain her delighted gasp before snatching her pencils from her stained dungarees pocket and clutching her sketchbook with an iron grip before eagerly rushing off ahead into the cool shade of the covered woods before her.

The others barely had any time to soak in their surroundings before hearing a small yelp followed by the distinct cry of a Heartless. Riku and Kairi shot each other a distinct look of distress before running to her aid, with Vanitas trailing not shortly behind, his smug look slowly being replaced by slight concern.

The soft beams of sunlight streaming from above through the gaps in the trees practically illuminated their path. Leaving a trail of footprints embedded into the soft soil, they came to an abrupt stop with Vanitas nearly skidding into their backs. 

Rather than an unfortunate scene of what they thought would be a helpless Namine in distress under attack, they saw something that they hadn't expected at all.

Instead, there stood a victorious Namine over 3 smouldering Chief Puff Heartless, which, was to all of them, barely even in the realm of possibility of what they expected to see when they came from the ship. With their jaws left agape for a suitable amount of time, it was Kairi who braved through the silence and finally dared to ask the question that they all wanted to.

"Hey... uh, Nami?" Kairi questioned, her brain on the verge of exploding. "You, uh, didn't tell us you could do _that_?"

It seemed that gardening wasn't the only thing that Namine had been busy practising in Radiant Garden.

Packing her pencils back into her small front pocket pouch, she took a long exhale, indicating that it might take a bit of explaining.

"Remember all those times when you took me with you to Radiant Garden in the Gummiship to go see Sora's friends and help out with the rebuilding? Well, I was talking with Aerith one time, and she suggested teaching me some self-defence magic training, and Merlin agreed! Plus, I picked up a few tricks from watching you and Xion spar."

"I'm impressed. Seems like you pack a big punch for such a non-intimidating appearance." Vanitas admitted in his usual smug tone.

"I'll take that as a compliment!" She responded bashfully, taking a mental note to thank Aerith.

"Yeah, way to go, Nami!" Kairi supported her, her initial shock being replaced with pride for her sister.

Taking a quick once over at the perimeter and ensuring that there'd be no more surprise attacks from their unknown surroundings, Riku spoke up. "We should go back to the ship, just to see if there's anywhere we can go from that empty space, rather than wondering into the woods." He indirectly reminded Namine with a hint of a smile on his face.

The open space they had found had seemed quite fortunate for them. It was secluded, almost as though it was purposely made for it to stay away from prying eyes. At least they had one distinct landmark that they were able to remember where they parked the ship: a monumental, statuesque tower. The white tone of the bricks had withered away from years of disrepair, leaving patches of dirt and greenery to embed themselves into. At the peak of the tower, there sat a lone window, its panels flung wide open and left there. The off-purple shingles lay on the roof with sheer willpower being the last thing holding it together. If anyone had ever lived in such a desolate place, it would have been a lonely and unfortunate life, isolated from any other interactions.

Riku squinted at the tower, not from the blinding sunlight, but from familiarity. Where could he have seen something like this before?

But, before he could think any further and follow his train of thoughts, he was snapped out of them by Vanitas's loud and deliberate cough.

"Ahem. Are we going to actually do anything, or what?" He grumbled, not waiting for an answer and attempting to find a way out of their cosy little corner of concealment. The others began to join in, right behind him, as Riku set aside his thoughts for later and stuck to the task at hand.

As the sun beat down more and more, Kairi began to tire quicker. Despite being _raised_ on the islands, she still had a hard time adapting to the hot climate, the vast contrast from her home world proving to be slightly too vast. In a futile attempt to find some sequestered shade to hopefully cool off in, she managed to find a wall of shrubbery, with her hopes of the rays on sunlight not to be too intense there perhaps being fulfilled?

Or, perhaps not. Instead of a nice solid wall to relax against, there, well, wasn't one. Hitting the floor with an unfortunate 'thump', she picked herself up off from the floor of wherever she was, rubbing her hand against the new slight sore spot on her head.

It wasn't a complete misfortune, however, as at the end of what she identified to be a cave, seemed to be a source of light. _Finally, a way out!_

Namine had seemed to notice her sudden disappearance and her eyes darted around her with furrowed brows, looking for any sign of her stark pink shorts and white tank top (at least she had come prepared for the weather). Luckily, she wasn't left wondering for long as from a panel of greenery echoed a familiar voice.

"Hey, guys? I think I found the way out! I'm by the ivy!"

Vanitas and Riku's heads snapped around to the source of the voice, and followed it, to where Namine had parted the vines, revealing a hidden path. "After you." She chuckled, a fake curtsy along with it. 

A faint light emanating from the edge of Kairi's Keyblade allowed them to not be left completely in the dark, allowing them to hop over any obstacles until they reached the open clearing.

And what a view was bestowed upon them.

The few scattered trees in their peripheral vision framed the kingdom in front of them perfectly. From such a far distance, they could see practically all of it. From the very edges of the town, it was already bustling with life, with market stalls scattered around, not far from the docks, people rushing in and out, working together in a chaotic yet harmonious method. Further inside, the town seemed to have a large open space, where the people had linked arms and were... dancing? Others on the sidelines could be seen to cheer them on, clapping their hands together in sync to maintain their tenuous rhythm. Even the layers of houses circled around them had open windows for the people inside to enjoy their apparent festivities without having to be present. At the epicentre of it all lay a behemoth of a castle, presumably where the monarchy of the world resided.

Namine's eyes glistened with excitement and inspiration and Kairi preemptively rustled around in her seemingly infinite pockets for her Gummiphone, already expecting the request from Namine to capture the picturesque view, despite Namine having her own Gummiphone, but being too enamoured with the gorgeous landscape before her to perform any other action than stare at it.

Riku, however, had seemed to catch up with his previous train of thoughts on the eerie familiarity of the world, and his face silently grew solemn, his smile once again turning dim.

Vanitas had been distracted by all of the hubbub that the two girls were making, that when he saw Riku's stark contrast of a contemplative and sorrowful expression, he had to ask. "I get art girl and _her Majesty's_ excitement and everything, but you don't seem so enthused." He crossed his arms, waiting for a response.

"I... know why this place is so familiar now." With a deep breath as if to calm himself down, he continued. "Sora came here when we were all looking for the new Princesses of Heart. He always sent me photos of the scenery with his goofy grin in the middle. He said... once we had the time, he wanted to take me here to see the floating lanterns at night." Barely being able to continue with a poorly concealed cough to cover up the crack in his voice, he once again took a deep breath. He had managed to grab the attention of Namine and Kairi during his explanation, both of whom wore similar despondent expressions, quieting down from their previous excitement.

If they wanted to get anything done, Vanitas was going to have to cheer them up. _Ugh._

"I know this place too."

And with just one simple sentence, he had managed to capture everyone's focus once more. Before they could even begin to ask their meaningless questions, they were immediately shut down by Vanitas.

"Shut up. Would you just let me explain?"

With resigned sighs and unanswered yet restrained questions, they all began to listen intently.

"I was buried deep in Sora's heart for a while, as I'm sure you all know by now. I'm also the culmination of the darkness and negativity in Ventus and Sora's hearts. I could feel strong surges of emotions coming from whatever memories the main idiot of it formed, so whenever he resonated with a specific emotion, I could see glimpses of it. I saw it in that other world, but I wasn't too sure what it was. When I did have that realisation, I made an Unversed, the physical manifestation of emotions, but seeing as they were connected that constantly happy dumbass, it was light, which as you know, is a relatively new thing to me. Now, you get one question each." He finally finished, the explanation seemingly being too exerting for him, causing him to have to take a break on a nearby log.

As equally confused they all were by that explanation, having to break it down into smaller pieces to process, Riku asked first.

"Are these 'Unversed' you make dangerous?"

"So far, no."

"Wait, so far? What do you mean-"

But, before he could continue his little interrogation, a hand in his face belonging to the edgier one told him that his time was up. "Yeah, you've had your question. Next?"

Namine's turn. "So you're connected to Sora and can see some memories through his emotions, positive or negative?"

"Congratulations, you understand. Next?"

"So... what do you remember here?" Kairi inquired, her curiosity of the lavish new world leading her further into their new mystery.

"A girl. She had some connection to that tower we saw. I think I remember her having... blonde hair. _Long_ blonde hair. And a lot of... empathy and familiarity with her and her situation for some reason. I think we'll know if we see her."

"Maybe that's why the connection in your heart is leading you to these worlds. The memories and emotions from each world mean something to Sora, so that's how we're following him. Kinda like a trail!" Namine mused her hypothesis, it being the only logical one the four of them could come to.

"... Sure." Vanitas deadpanned, already starting to get sick of the light, both the people and from the sun. "Can we go now?"

Despite his mocking tone, they all knew what needed to be done for them to move on to their goal. Every step forward was a step closer to Sora. 

Riku placed his hand on his forehead, blocking out the sun and looking for the entryway into the grand, opulent kingdom. Upon his discovery of a bridge, his heart started beating a little faster. It was really happening. After waiting around for so long, listlessly, there was finally some sort of progress. And so they walked.

\----

Normally, whenever they went to different worlds, they were generally seen as outsiders, people to veer away from. Sure, if they had to change their forms to 'blend in', it wasn't as conspicuous, yet they still managed to stick out like a sore thumb. Whilst some in the world accepted them, they could always see the hesitance from others.

Apparently, those rules didn't apply here.

Throughout the bustling community, people swerving around one another in such an organised and methodical way, no-one seemed to notice the four newcomers. Those who did seem to notice saw no immediate difference and welcomed them like their own. 

"What's got everyone so lively?" Kairi questioned, noticing something that someone must have placed on her head in passing._ A... flower crown? What's going on?_

Venturing further into the crowd, being sure to keep an eye on one another (annoying Vanitas to no extent, since he insisted that he didn't need to be babied constantly), the source of the crowd's commotion was located. That same open space that they saw from afar had gained even more people joining in their dance. From a closer perspective, they could see the detail in their celebrations.

The banners strewn about the plaza all bore the same identical symbol on them, that of a sun. A mural on a nearby wall, built from a spectrum of hues, depicted that of...

A young girl, with long, blonde hair; someone of clear significance to the kingdom. _Guess Vanitas was right._

And yet, despite all of the commotion and joy in the air, there was still a murmuring, festering, negative hubbub amidst the jovial community emanating from the local supplies market stalls nearby. As expected, Vanitas was able to sense such negativity first, already turning around with a natural curiosity of this anomaly. Kairi turned moments later, noticing the correlation of the negative atmosphere and Vanitas's natural attraction to it, like magnets beckoning one another.

With the three Guardians of Light in tow, they pushed through the bustling crowd to find a brightly coloured, inviting stall built harbouring a contrastingly disgruntled, muttering shopkeeper with seemingly no wares.

"..stupid creatures, always happens to me, stupid supply route..."

"Uh, ma'am?" Kairi inquired, a look of worry crossing her face from what she could overhear. "Are you alright?"

"Do I look alright?!" The shopkeeper snapped, yet mere seconds later, she seemed remorseful, her expression full of sorrow. "Sorry... I didn't mean to snap. Things have been kinda tense for me ever since my supply route was cut off."

"Oh no, what happened?" Namine replied, her brow furrowed, nearly mirroring Kairi.

She slumped over her stall, her palms supporting her face, plastered by a miserable and gloomy visage, a clear contrast from the rest of the festivities. "Well... a few months ago, there had been reports of these dark, writhing creatures coming from the forest. No-one really took it seriously since it was only a few, and they tended to disappear relatively quickly. But... recently, they've been coming in swarms, blocking off parts of the forest. And guess whose supply route was through that path?"

With a heavy sigh, showing to the three (nearly four) intent listeners how heavily she was struck by this misfortune, she continued on. "It's a shame really. I only ran out of my stock just mere days ago, and the main festivities are so close! I was even going to prepare some special stock for the princess, I heard that she loves this stuff!" And with the mention of the important figure they had all heard about and a small nod into a direction from the shopkeeper, they managed to lay their eyes on her.

The townspeople were practically dancing to her very footsteps, as wherever she stepped, the people found joy in the life that she brought through her mere presence. She seemed slightly different to what the mural depicted, rather with short, brown hair, just below her shoulder, yet she still matched the same jubilant description they had heard from what Vanitas had remembered when they talked on their way in.

Wide-eyed and nearly breathless from her surprise and sudden shock, Kairi managed to whisper what exactly it was that she found so shocking. "She's a Princess of Heart. I can feel it. It's her."

Namine seemed to understand the silent implications of her words, yet it was lost on the other two. Noticing their joint confusion, she elaborated.

"Ever since I was given a second chance after... after Xehanort struck me down, I realised that I wasn't going to waste it this time. I couldn't, not after what Sora did for me. I have to find out where I came from, what it means to be a Princess of Heart, what happened in my past. I have so many unanswered questions and what the future holds for me, and I'm not just going to sit back in complacency again and wait around for someone else to do the work again. In all the worlds I've been in whilst I'm looking for Sora, I've also been checking to see if there's any other Princesses like me. I didn't want to tell you, Riku, because I didn't know how you'd react. I know Sora's been your main priority, I wasn't sure how you'd take it. I just want to know where the others are, and what it's like for them. If I stay connected to them, we can avoid situations like that asshole, Xehanort, trying to use us again. It's my time to fight now for what I want, and I'm not backing down. This time, I can find my own identity."

And after all of that, all Vanitas had to say was a simple "Hmm."

His small action not going unnoticed by the newly-agitated Kairi, she growled with her fists clenched. "I'm sorry, 'hmm'? And what's that supposed to mean?"

Either not noticing or not caring about her annoyance, he stated rather matter-of-factually, "Well, that's a lot of bark and I haven't seen much bite yet. Plus, a Princess of Heart being all fiery? Xehanort did spout a load of garbage, but the one thing I did believe was that these 'Princesses of Heart' weren't exactly fighters. Can't fight with all that light."

"Oh, I'll show you a _fighter_, you little-"

Attempting to neutralise the rampantly growing situation they had, Namine stepped in between them both, acting as a barrier to stop them from maiming one another. "Both of you, stop it! We aren't here to fight, we have another situation on our hands!" She scolded, slightly upset to see her sister and her newly-made friend (hopefully) bicker like children and row with each other. 

Turning their backs to the crowd yet again to face the increasingly miserable woman (who had thankfully not heard their discussion), they hoped to end her misery.

"Madam, we'd be more than happy to take care of these creatures for you, we promise. Just show us the way, and we'll get right to it." Riku ensured, watching the woman nearly tear up at such a gesture and promptly point the directions out.

Along with his promise, Kairi handed her the flower crown she had received from a passing stranger, adorned with a variety of local flowers on it, sparking a small flame of joy within the previously discontented woman. They waved a small goodbye before setting their sights towards the path leading to the blockade of Heartless and making their way along.

"Why'd you do that, dumbass?" Vanitas pondered, his voice in its usual accusatory tone yet laced with a slight yet unnoticeable, genuine curiosity. Why would someone make such a large promise like that to someone they barely knew?

"She has a problem with Heartless, we solve it. You don't need to get anything back for it, just helping someone out is enough." Explained Riku

"Another light thing, huh?" He presumed, preemptively rolling his eyes.

"It's not solely light and darkness. It's what you choose to do as a person. That's down to you, not anything else. Just because you use darkness, that doesn't inherently make you a bad person. Your actions with it determine that, and what you choose to do with it."

To say that Vanitas was confounded by his response would be an understatement. He... hadn't ever really thought about it that way. Obviously, under Xehanort's influence, he never had the time to, but things were different now._ He_ was different now. He had to remind himself of that. And he had more and more things to learn about others and himself than he thought.

Before he could continue his intriguing train of thought, it was brought to an abrupt end by a hand preventing him from going any further with his absent-minded walking.

"We're about to enter the forest." Riku announced, causing Vanitas to look up from his daydreaming. And lo behold, there it was.

Bushy thickets were tidily arranged around the edge of the forest, most likely as a subversion from the chaos within. From what they could see from the edge, the trees were twisted and intertwined with one another, blocking paths and causing foreseeable problems. Practically embedded into the thick logs was the same type of ivy that Kairi had 'found' earlier on in the day, almost strangling the trees from the indent it left. Little sunshine was able to get through the forest's abundant greenery, with only patches left to dot their pathways. Within those shadows, they were barely able to discern any movement, but they saw it nonetheless. Heartless. That was their trail.

"I'll go first. Everyone else, stay behind me and stay close." Kairi spoke up to everyone's surprise, already in front of Riku and waiting for their confirmation.

"W-Wait, Kairi, what are you doing?" Riku panicked slightly. What was she doing, throwing herself head first into danger, right after she said that she's saving her second chance? "It's not safe, I'll go first." 

Despite the fact that he had no malicious intent behind the words, it still got to Kairi. "No!"

"I'm sick of everyone telling me I'm too weak, too under trained, not capable of handling myself! I'm not made of glass, and I'm most certainly able to fight for myself! I can use my light to show us the way, if you'll just let me for once!"

Riku, standing wide-eyed and guilt-ridden, no longer hesitated to let Kairi lead the way. They knew that she had felt annoyed about how the others treated her and her minimal training, but never to that extent.

Kairi held out her Keyblade, performing a similar action to the one she did in the cave, and once again, the tip of her Keyblade emanated a strong light, so much so that it was practically spreading out to its surroundings, with her leading the way that the shopkeeper had told them to go determinedly.

Following not so far behind her was Namine, clutching her pencils in her pocket tightly, trying her best not to let her fear show, and remembering that she could fight the Heartless if necessary.

Behind Namine was Vanitas, who Riku insisted go in front of him to keep a watchful eye on him, and yet Vanitas knew still knew that it was because of the immense guilt radiating off of him from his confrontation with Kairi. Riku's eyes kept darting around the forest, both monitoring Vanitas and any surprise attacks.

As they all walked as quietly as they possibly could through the forest for as far as they could before being detected, a large snap came from their side. They all silently confirmed to one another that they were not the source of the sound, and eliminating all other options other than a nearby Heartless. Even with Kairi's radiant light, the darkness was nearly palpable within the forest, most likely due to the Heartless' presence.

A flash of two yellow orbs from the darkness finally confirmed to them that they were up for another fight, already getting into their battle stances. Kairi separated her light from her Keyblade, and placed it in the air around them.

Five Soldier Heartless came marching from the shadows, all their claws bared and ready for their next fight. Only two Chief Puff Heartless came floating elegantly from above, with Namine already staring them down.

"We'll each take down one Soldier Heartless each, and we'll all focus on the one left. Namine, take care of the other two quickly and someone else can handle your Heartless until you can." Riku informed them all, keeping his voice low and quiet so as to not provoke the Heartless before they were all ready to fight.

The one to make the first move was Vanitas, surging in on the Heartless with the blunt end of his Keyblade to knock it back before it could get Namine, stunning it temporarily. _Guess I'll fight them both for now. Not a problem. _He thought to himself smugly and proudly.

Namine, however, was trying her best to line up her Fira to ground one of the floating creatures, but they were moving too quickly and erratically for her to get a clean shot. With her quick thinking, instead of trying to focus on one specific enemy, she could cast a quick Thunder, striking down many of the Heartless in her vicinity, quite literally killing two birds with one stone, and finally being able to relieve Vanitas of his duty.

Riku raised his Keyblade high over his head and brought it down upon the Heartless he was facing. Instead of being able to do any major damage to it, his Keyblade instead just rebounded, leaving him open for an attack. Luckily, thanks to Namine's Thunder, it was shocked before it could retaliate, leaving Riku to deal with it from there, knowing what not to do from that point on.

Kairi, on the other side of the battle field, held her Keyblade to her side, firmly placing her feet into the ground, preparing to deliver a heavy blow right to its side, hopefully pushing it back. To her luck, she was able to pull it off, but what she didn't expect was for it to nearly pounce back at her. Thinking on her feet, she rolled to the side and took control of one of the orbs of light circling them from above with the tip of her Keyblade. With a quick motion of pulling her Keyblade down to her feet, the ball of light mirrored its movement, whacking the Heartless to the side, leaving it prone to one more attack to finish it off, leaving Kairi as the first one to defeat the Heartless from the group that ambushed them.

Unfortunately for Kairi, the Heartless that Vanitas was focusing on managed to see that its fellow Heartless had fallen, and decided to crawl over to Kairi, still trying to regain her balance from her Light attack. Unfortunately for the Heartless, Vanitas wasn't about to let his target get away that easily.

Kairi stumbled over, still dazed from her attack, and prepared for an impact. An impact that never came.

Before it could get over to attack her, Vanitas used a Dark Break to strike it down before it could get any further, demolishing it once and for all, and helping Kairi back up to her feet quickly.

"I can handle _myself!_" Kairi said through gritted teeth, before pushing past him and performing her Strike Raid on the remaining Heartless, with so much power behind it that it was destroyed in one move.

With Riku using a Sliding Dash, rushing forward to take down his Heartless once and for all and Namine using her Blizzard to decimate hers, all of them were dealt with. Yet, before they could revel in their victory, Kairi urged them all to keep moving, or their pace would slow down.

Once more, they went back into their order, and continued forward, vaulting over the nearby leaning tree, posing no obstacle to them. Yet.

\-----

After hours of walking (which Vanitas started to notice was a common theme in the worlds, and did not care for it at all), they found themselves exhausted after several ambushes and fights. But, to relieve them of their fatigue, a large, open space with sunshine beaming through with no abundant, emerald greenery to stop it from meeting the forest floor became visible to them in the near distance.

Finding a clearing again was a major sign of something suspicious. With more scrapes and bruises they had from when they entered, they ventured cautiously through the twisting trees.

From their initial examination, nothing seemed out of place. It was just a simple clearing within the dark forest. Simple enough.

Expect, nothing is usually that simple.

Namine started to glance at the leaves at the top of the forest. The whole forest was covered in giant, thick leaves, so why was this place any different? From a closer look, she managed to find that the leaves were, in fact, brown. Decayed. Tainted.

Darkness had decayed it. Eaten away at it. This was where the Heartless were originating from.

Kairi too had become suspicious of the area. That, and she had wanted to get some more distance from where Riku and Vanitas were, both of them having agitated her enough for her to need some space. Thinking away and focusing intently on grappling with what she was thinking about, she stumbled upon a small plank of wood.

The vines had managed to intertwine itself with the wood, despite the wood looking relatively new and fresh. Whacking away at the abundance of leaves and greenery, she uncovered what it truly was that was so carefully guarded.

Slowly but surely, she managed to piece it together that it was actually the exact thing that they came to find. _The woman's supply cart!_

Reaching out to grab it with her hand and pull it back to the open space where they could all help push it back to the central part of the town, she grasped the edge of the handle before recoiling from the cold feel of it.

Normally, Kairi didn't mind the cold. In fact, she even enjoyed it. But, this wasn't just your regular 'cold'. It was the cold, hard, inky, unfeeling 'cold' of darkness, which she had gotten used to in her encounters, enough to recognise it upon instinct and draw her Keyblade.

From the shadows rose eight Shadow Heartless, all squirming and twitching, waiting to attack at any given moment. Everyone else was alerted from their sudden appearance and the subsequent cold sting in the air. They all rushed over, trying their best to tackle them all at once before they could become a problem and overwhelm them. What they didn't know, however, was that would be the least of their problems.

From further than the sunlight could reach, deep within the forest, the main Heartless grew and grew in size until it was larger than the space it occupied. It wanted more. More space, more freedom to roam and look for its prey. And it had found just the place. A nice clearing with four inhabitants.

Riku and Vanitas both summoned their Keyblades, preparing to fight the gargantuan beast that had confronted them. Namine reached into her pockets to find an Ether and downed the whole thing, preparing to fight like Aerith taught her to.

It stared down the four people facing it, obviously different from the others who just ran. The main colour of its body could barely be seen through the thick vines wrapping itself around it, acting as its armour, reinforced by darkness weaving in and out of it freely. It had managed to propel itself into the air using its darkness imbued wings, formed from what looked similar to the coarse, crooked, curling trees, a dark oaky colour from years of wear from the onslaught of exterior forces. Its eyes shimmered a deep orange, shining and searching wildly, its yellow pupils going from one direction to another in the mere blink of an eye. Similar to the appearance of a giant bird (a rather monstrous one at that), its tail flung about freely, flapping about in the wind and swaying in the directions that its wings blew the wind to it to.

Kairi stared it dead in the eye, with a determined glint in her, ready to take it down and fulfil her promise. Riku shared her courage and determination, rather with a slight hesitation in concern for Kairi, but he had promptly decided to discard it in return for trusting her and remembering her words from earlier. She wasn't weak, and he had to stop treating her like it.

Namine was afraid. Sure, she trained with Aerith, and she always tried her best, and it helped her so far, which she was so grateful for, but she had never faced something this big. She had doubted herself for sometime, and no matter how much people assuaged those doubts, they'd always come crawling back in. But, she had decided that it was time for them to go away, once and for all, and show herself that she could do it. All she had to do was believe in herself.

And, Vanitas? Vanitas was tired. He had been fighting since the moment he had got here, and he had barely got a break. And then that pining idiot had to go and promise that they'd go and fight more things, and for what?

Well, that was the question. As soon as Riku had told him that it was his choice to decide who he wanted to be with the tools he was given, he was stuck on it. As much as he had been thinking about it, he wasn't able to find an answer, no matter what angle he decided to face it from. This was going to be his deciding moment.

And he had no time to waste.

The creature lurched from the air towards them, swooping down like a vulture snatching its prey, and yet having no yield. Vanitas was the first one to act, charging up a Dark Firaga and launching it straight at the belly of the beast. It deflected off of it, the waves of darkness enveloping the vines wrapping themselves around it and firing it straight back at the group.

Turning right back around for another dive at them, Kairi decided that it was her turn for an attack. Learning from the mistake of firing at the body, Kairi hurled a Fire at its tail, in the hopes that it might catch alight. For a brief moment, it did, and the beast flailed about wildly, attempting to put out the fire. With a few loops at a high velocity, it was able to extinguish it and set its sights on its prey for the third time. So, fire, not exactly the right choice in that scenario.

Before Riku or Namine could even try their hand at doing any sort of damage to the Heartless, they immediately took cover and dodge rolled to the side. Hovering right over their heads, the Heartless began to unravel the vines coating its body and slammed them into the ground, tearing it asunder from the impact. If they got hit by that, then who knows how long it would take them to recover.

Kairi squinted her eyes and peered at it, with the vines temporarily embedded into the ground, it seemed to have trouble pulling them out, and with the vines away from its body, she could see its natural purple main body, with streaks of orange running through it. She prepared a ball of light and promptly fired it at its exposed part.

It cried out in pain before quickly separating the vines from the ground in a frenzy, so quickly that some chunks of dirt were still attached.

Not having to say anything between them, they all noticed its vulnerability and how to attack. All of them cautiously avoiding the divot it made in the ground, they assumed their fighting stances again.

Namine was no longer afraid, the adrenaline of the fight fuelling her to keep on going. She could protect herself just fine, and she made a grand example by hitting the circling monster with a Thundaga, enough voltage to keep it stunned in the air and the vines, seemingly having a life of their own, thrash about, slowly peeling back to expose its soft, vulnerable body.

Kairi and Riku shared a small, steadfast nod between themselves before enacting a shared attack. Riku opened up a Corridor of Darkness leading directly to its weak points whilst Kairi fired rapid quick shots of light into it, somehow amplified by the portal and every single shot making contact rather than a distanced shot with a smaller chance of hitting. As soon as its stun wore off, it went right back to moving erratically and unpredictably through the air, its limbs out of control as it struggled to maintain its balance.

"We need to finish it off! Namine, can you get it to stop flying?" Kairi looked at her with trust, knowing that she could do this, an unspoken promise of protecting each other going unspoken. All it took was a simple confirmation between the two for Namine to focus on charging the largest Aeroga she could. If she could alter the directions of the winds, it wouldn't be able to fly straight and would hopefully come crashing down. Hopefully.

Her eyes brimming with determination and courage, she found that she had no more fear to hold her back as she launched the powerful spell in the sky and hit her target head on, causing it to come crashing back down once again, its eyes twitching, their indication that they were nearly done with disposing of the behemoth.

She quickly stepped to the side, narrowly avoiding being crushed, and to watch the spectacle of the three Keyblade wielders prepare a combined attack to keep it down once and for all. Kairi's Keyblade was glowing with Light, Vanitas' Keyblade radiating Darkness, and Riku's Keyblade fluctuating between the two.

Preparing themselves to unleash the finishing blow, they all swung their arms backwards and brought it forwards with as much force as they could muster. Thankfully, it was enough as the creature began to dissipate into small specks of Darkness, finally proving to no longer be an obstacle.

As they all regained their breath with Namine hunched over desperately trying to regain her energy after such potent magic, Kairi, slightly red in the face from her own exhaustion handed her an Ether whilst she took a Potion herself. Vanitas dismissed his Keyblade and glared up at the sky where the remaining Darkness from the creature could still be seen floating upwards, almost in pride of himself and his teammates, whilst Riku seemed to have a goal of his own to find a certain object of interest.

Surprisingly, the cart had managed to stay intact throughout that entire fight. Perhaps it was because of the giant, glowing, beckoning Keyhole adorned upon the side of it, rising slowly to a safe point where it hovered.

As Vanitas strolled over to the Keyhole, Kingdom Key in hand, Riku pulled Kairi aside, prompting her to speak privately away from the other two.

"Listen, Kai, I don't know how to say this, but... I'm really sorry for being like that. For thinking that you shouldn't lead, and I really meant nothing by it, it's just that I can't lose you too." Riku looked away, unable to meet her eyes, no matter how hard she tried to.

"No, Riku, I'm not going anywhere. It's just that ever since that fight in the Keyblade Graveyard, against Xehanort, I feel like everyone just pities me, that I'm not good enough... That I wasn't good enough to fight for Sora. I've been telling myself no more what-ifs, and you know that I've trained with Xion and everyone else, but there's always going to be that small piece of doubt just festering and growing." She admitted aloud, finally getting her doubts of her chest to her best friend, looking both relieved and ashamed after.

Riku, concerned for her, shuffled his arms around her awkwardly to give her what he could muster of a hug. He was never good at comforting people, but she was still endeared when he tried.

"I'm sorry that we made you feel that way, that _I_ made you feel that way. You're Kairi, one of the strongest people I know, and I'm not just talking about physical strength. You're persistent and courageous and you're stronger than I could ever be."

Before she could even respond, they were all interrupted by the distinct sound of a beam of light leaving a Keyblade, which they found to be Vanitas locking up the Keyhole, standing with the Kingdom Key stretched out before him, his eyes closed either from concentration or from the blinding light.

The leaves from the trees began to sway with the rampant winds that the Key was producing, discarding of the weak, brown, dead leaves. The rocks on the ground began to tremor slightly, as if reacting to the sheer power of closing the Keyhole. As soon as it stopped, the world somehow got brighter. Literally.

From their limited view, they squinted into the distance, almost in disbelief of what they were seeing. The thick branches recoiled from their misshapen chaos and began to straighten upwards, creating a much more natural forest, allowing the gentle sunlight to finally reach all the way to the ground, clearly showing them the way back to where they came from.

"That takes care of these shitty Heartless. Now we just have to get this stupid cart all the way back to town." Vanitas faced them all smirking and pointed behind him to the cart of supplies, waiting to finally be delivered after so long of sitting idly and stationary.

Despite his crude words, they shared a small smile between them all. They defeated a giant Heartless, locked the Keyhole, and Vanitas was helping them significantly. They were finally making tangible progress in their search.

\-----

Dragging the cart the final step of the way, finishing their gruelling task, they all dropped their equal load of the hefty load of supplies. Even divided between all four of them, it still posed a significant challenge.

But, with a prolonged sigh shared between them, it was done, and their promise was fulfilled. Greeting the expectant shopkeeper with a small wave amongst the crowd, she cried out in joy and ran over to her beloved supplies.

"Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you!" She exclaimed, grinning ear to ear, still wearing the flower crown. "I can't tell you how happy this makes me! Oh, how can I repay you? Oh, I know! You can take some supplies and some munny, and I'm not taking 'no' for an answer!" 

As she shoved the small pieces of gold directly into their hands, despite their staunch, modest refusal (which didn't last long against her vehemence), she showed them all what she had been so desperately expecting. Several pieces of jewellery, along with countless Ethers and Potions, and a small, wooden, engraved box with flowers on.

"Ah! That's for the princess, I've been waiting so long for this!" Grabbing the box carefully, she waddled over to her own stall, placing it on the table delicately and proudly. She finally fit in with the joyful atmosphere, with the smell of freshly baked pastries nearby and the small buzz of happiness flowing through everyone in the town.

"Hey, Nami, you sure you don't wanna go buy something for Xion?" Kairi asked in a teasing voice, knowing of her crush on her.

"Oh! I'm alright, I, hah, kinda already have something." She replied coyly, her cheeks blushing red, rubbing the back of her neck and looking to the side. "When I ran off to go see that flower, I knew it was a Tatarian Aster, which is Xion's favourite flower, and I wanted to give her a drawing of it. I got a photo of it, and I'm hoping to draw that and give that to her."

At the sound of her adorable idea, Kairi 'awhed' whilst playfully poking her in the arm until she was blushing so much from her thought of her present that she had to cover her face in her hands.

"Hey, Nami, I think I saw some cute pots over there. Why don't you quickly dig up the plant on the way back and give it to her instead? We'll meet you guys back at the Gummiship!" Suggested Kairi, not even waiting for a response and tugging her over eagerly to browse at the collection, with a small, unexpected yelp from Namine.

Vanitas and Riku were pushing the cart closer to the stall with all their might, needing to push with their backs in a combined effort to get any sort of significant mileage. As they struggled and strained, nearly collapsing from the immense weight, Riku had to think to himself. _How did she even expect to carry this thing all the way back by herself?_

Deciding that they had got it as far as they could, with Riku rubbing his shoulder from the strain of pushing a heavy load with it, Vanitas was once again reminded of what Riku had said before. With his brow furrowed and his usual murderous glare no longer donned, he asked him as soon as he was done recovering.

"So, pining idiot. Did you really mean it before? What you said, that it was what I did that decided who I was?" He questioned as uncaring as he could, despite being genuinely intrigued by the proposition.

"I... I've done some bad things in the past. But it was Sora who convinced me that it didn't make me a bad person, that I was capable of change. And then, I realised. I wasn't fighting for 'darkness' or 'light'. I was fighting for myself and the person I love." As he reminisced on his dearly beloved person, the one he <strike>did</strike> would risk everything for, his eyes began to get glassy, his features downtrodden and despondent.

Vanitas felt that he could almost choke on the sadness he was radiating. He knew he was sad, surely, but not _that_ sad. He really meant that much to him? Such sadness, bitter nostalgia, longing, pining, yet such hope and determination embedded within it-

"Uh, Vanitas?" Riku poked him out of his absentminded thinking, bringing him back to reality. "I'm guessing that this is one of the Unversed you were talking about?" He glared at the ivory creature that glared right back at him, with a step backwards for his own safety.

"Oh, shit, what?" He responded, whipping his head around to find the aforementioned creature wrapped tightly around his leg.

It was similar to the previous Unversed that he had created, yet different entirely. Rather than being skittish and unable to trust, it clung to the safety that it knew. Its ears, drooping down and flowing from the top of its head, covered nearly the entirety of its face, apart from a slither of it, revealing its azure eye. Standing on two legs, or barely standing, as it trembled like a leaf in a tornado.

Declaring it as no threat from its timid nature, Riku crouched down on his knees on the trodden ground to hold out his hand to it with a gentle expression.

It clung tighter and tighter, until, finally, Vanitas grimaced, baring his teeth, unable to take it anymore and scooping it into his arms, practically vibrating with fear at this point to things it didn't yet know. And, with a light pat on its head from the smiling Riku, all of its fears melted away.

Vanitas, nearly sickened by such a display of _joy _just started walking back to the Gummiship with no further input from Riku. Luckily for him, he put up no sort of fight or opposition to his idea. Unluckily for him, it was all because he was enamoured by the small creature who was squirming around in his arms. _Ugh._

Thankfully, the way back to the clearing wasn't as difficult as it was getting out of it. The vines, seemingly tamed in that specific area (to their relief), practically acted as a string to be followed all the way back from the brightly coloured bridge to the less-than-brightly coloured cave from which the pastoral vines originated. The mysterious turret still stood there, as dulled as it had become from presumably years of standing.

The sun was still shining as brightly as it had consistently been, with it having no effect on Riku, and nearly a full effect on Namine, with her arms already showing signs of a burn.

Vanitas had decided that it was more than enough heat and sunshine for him in one day. But, there was still one thing stopping him from opening the door to the Gummiship. _Ah._

The creature, still not budging out of his arms, occupied his full capabilities of being able to do any sort of activity.

"Ahem. The, uh, door."

"What about it?" Riku replied with one of the smuggest looks Vanitas had ever seen. He knew exactly what he was doing and he was doing it unabashedly.

"Open it."

"Why don't you? I _insist_." He tried his best to answer back without fully bursting into laughter, finding that the edgy, snarky boy who was too busy holding an adorable, cute little creature to open a simple door was too funny to not take advantage of.

In return, he got back a death glare, one that could wither the plants in its mere vicinity. At that point, he couldn't take it anymore, and hunched over, laughing harder than he had in the past four months. He finally had to give in and open it, no matter how long he wanted it to go on for.

Vanitas storming in and sitting in his seat grumpily certainly didn't help him in any regard, with Riku going almost as red as Namine in the face.

After a while, with his laughter _eventually_ dying down and preparing the next flight route, checking in with the others on his Gummiphone, Vanitas heard two sets of footsteps echo in with the sound of chatter.

"Done_ already?_"

"Well, I got something for Olette on the way." Kairi replied, not really focusing on anyone else after the mention of the name, making Kairi have nearly that same pining look as Riku had.

Namine, however was focused on something entirely else.

Her pupils grew nearly half as she ogled and moved her hands in a grabby motion towards the creature laying peacefully in Vanitas' arms, who had finally gone to sleep. Or, the equivalent of what sleep was to an Unversed.

"Wow, you and that xylophone girl really share one brain cell." He rolled his eyes, retracting the Unversed back into the safety of his arms.

With mock irritation, she clutched her hand to her chest and scoffed in disbelief.

"Hey, at least you're not as bad as flamesilocks, he just has none. So, you're beating him, at least. Despite him being an absolute clown, gotta say, good taste in ice cream."

As they sat on the Gummiship, sitting expectantly for their pilot to prepare their next course for them, Kairi turned her chair around to look at Vanitas, slouching on it, with his head resting on one armrest and his legs on the other. "Hey, Vanitas, I, uh, I just wanted to say that I'm sorry. For being so aggressive towards you without even getting to know you yet. I'm just infuriated that people think that I don't know what to do and I don't know if it was because of your darkness and my light coinciding, or that you have Sora's face, but it was still wrong of me to make that kind of assumption without knowing you yet. And, also, thanks. For saving me there back in the forest." She sighed, getting her burden off her chest and making amends whilst being the bigger person.

"Eh, it was easy enough. But, I did want to say that, as much as it pains me to say it... I was wrong. I also made up my mind about you before I knew you, and before I knew that you were... an adequate fighter. I won't be making that mistake again. So, I'm also, uh..."

As he trailed off in volume, crossing his arms tightly, Kairi was able to make out the word 'sorry' in his meaningless muttering, evolving into grumbles. Even though he was still too proud to admit to saying it out loud, she still heard it, and the sentiment remained. _Perhaps,_ she thought,_ we can be friends. Maybe._

"I can also feel other people's emotions when they're strong. And in that little speech of yours before, all I could sense was guilt. Overwhelming guilt. It wasn't your fault that Sora's gone now, it was the idiot's own idea. You're not to blame." He looked her in the eye, his crude nature being replaced with sincerity for once. It almost seemed like he was... comforting her.

Riku barged in, not exactly understanding the serious tone between the two and Namine's own lovesick vibe in the corner as she privately texted on her Gummiphone, the correspondence making her blush profusely as she sat with the newly-potted plant in her lap, blooming brightly.

"We've got some bad news. It's gonna take some time until you can go with Terra, Aqua, and Ven. They said that because of years of no use, their armour fell into disrepair, so it might be a while until they can fully recover from the trip to and from Ansem's lab. For now, why don't we go to Twilight Town? We can catch up with the others, if that's alright with everyone else?"

"Wait, Kairi, your search for the other princesses, what about the one here?" Namine fretted, knowing how important her search was. Being her 'Nobody' still gave her a bit of insight to what she really felt a lot of the time, and they shared everything quite often. She knew how she had struggled with her identity, the memories of her childhood being lost to time, any meaningful connections gone, separated from Kairi, like she was with everything else in her home world. 

"That can wait until later. Right now, we have something more important to do."

"Ohh, like seeing your precious Olette?" She smirked, knowing how much she meant to her and their growing relationship. Whenever Olette had showed up to watch Xion and Kairi spar, Kairi always showed off for her, pulling out the fanciest moves she could.

"Well, I'm sure that you're over the moon to see your_ favourite model_ again? You can finally give her your gift, get some ice cream together?" Kairi returned, teasing her to an equal degree. With Namine about to return their friendly banter, Vanitas interjected abruptly.

"Ugh, enough with both of your sappy love shit. Can we go? I heard that there was ice cream there, so... bit more incentive for me now."

Despite the rude interruption, he did have a point. Not about the love stuff, which Kairi and Namine were both indulging in with the fact of them seeing the ones that they cherished dearly soon enough, but with the fact that they had spent enough time in that world.

With a clear path set (and no heart-following for this one, to Vanitas' overwhelming joy), they were launched into the picturesque sea-blue sky, leaving a trail of lily-white clouds behind them, as they all sat expectantly and watched the blue fade to the dark stretch of space, with the stars around them slowly coming into view, like fireflies thriving in the night.

They had all deserved a break. So, their next destination, Twilight Town.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> government said fuck exams so guess i got time for this. doesn't mean i'm not going to use it as my new thing to procrastinate because i am nowhere NEAR being done
> 
> i'm also really liking the concept of the lost trio so. guess my plans gonna get fucked now. maybe. if you wanna see lost trio please tell me because now im honestly considering it and i need someone to endorse this disorganisation of mine and thank you to the kh tumblr gc for giving me flamesilocks ive got a lot more crack ideas to implement from this
> 
> also next chapter will be short but sweet hopefully


	10. An Interlude At Sunset

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Vanitas finally finds the short reprieve he's wanted, but another finds themselves with a painful thought.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> as it turns out i don't learn my lesson! my computer crashed. again. without me saving and i swear to god i was so close to just SCREAMING good thing i'm bad at actually writing in a time management sense and didn't do much lmao (and what i did do i didn't feel was that good so it all works out i guess)
> 
> it's still not good but at least its not nothing ok (also if you're still reading this far like?? thank you???? i got a lot of stuff going on but i appreciate you still reading it when it eventually updates!)

The first time Namine saw Vanitas, her first thoughts were not exactly _'this is person is friend material'_. Although, no-one could really blame him for the circumstances that he made his first impression in.

And yet, despite everyone's initial aggression towards him, his first instinct upon meeting Namine was to help share a heavy burden of news. No matter what the others thought, no matter what _he_ thought, from what she had heard, he was already actively trying to change his ways. Change doesn't happen suddenly overnight, but it can start when you make the decision to try.

And whilst to outside observers, the permanent scowl on his face may have seemed like malice, but Namine had hoped that she knew him well enough to recognise a look of contemplation.

Well, not for long.

"Hey, Vanitas..."

"Hmm?"

"...About that Unversed-"

"**No.**" Vanitas stated bluntly, bringing his hand to his face. "How many times do I have to tell you? That's around the tenth time you've asked me within this singular journey. I don't understand why you people are so obsessed with them." He crossed his arms even tighter, the fledgling emotion previously resting there having run its course.

With a huff, Namine started to dig around through her seemingly infinite pockets, with clinks and clanks of various unidentified objects filling the room until, at last, she pulled out her Gummiphone.

**SEA SALT CLOWNS:**

**nyamine:** please help Vanitas is BULLYING me by refusing to give me an Unversed i'm going to cry

**saltyashecc: **somebody stop me i'm about to throw hands for one (1) adorable creecher

**rucksack:** then do it you coward >:)

**saltyashecc:** wAIT YOU HAVE A POINT-

**nyamine:** YESS VIOLENCEEE

**flamesilocks:** i am So Proud of you all

**ISA:** Lea, what's going on? What are the children plotting? Why are you advocating for violence?

**flamesilocks:** it's OK i trust the kids they know how to plan good

**ISA:** Please forgive my apprehension, but I don't really trust your taste in 'good plans', as evidenced by our constant forced removal from the castle when we were younger.

**flamesilocks:** we :) don't :) talk :) about :) that :) in :) front :) of :) the :) kids:)

**saltyashecc:** WHAT HAPPENED TELL US

**rucksack:** >:OO TELL US OR I STEAL YOUR ICECREAM 

**flamesilocks:** this :) is :) why :)

With Namine engrossed with the ongoing conversation on her phone, Vanitas still mumbling away at everyone's persistence, Kairi dozing off in her chair with her gift to Olette squeezed tightly in her arms, and Riku having what seemed to be a staring contest with the navigation system, the familiar beeping of the Gummiship alerted them all.

From what Riku had said, the hazy yellow skies meant that it could only be one place: Twilight Town.

\-----

Thankfully, the atmosphere of this world was relatively more peaceful and much less hectic than the ones Vanitas had travelled to before.

That was, until the masses of footsteps came stomping through the not-so-quiet-anymore streets.

One blur came crashing into Namine, almost knocking her over, soon slowing down to reveal Xion, hugging her and Namine following suit.

The other rapid footsteps belonged to the rest of the group, desperately trying to regain their breath, hunched over and exhausted, only able to give a quick nod to the others.

"Hmm. Warm welcome." Vanitas rolled his eyes.

"Hi!" The boy who stood next to Roxas attempted to introduce himself through his struggle for air. "I'm Hayner, that's Pence, and the one silently nudging over to Kairi is Olette."

A small wave from Pence and a kind smile from Olette surprisingly did make him feel more welcome.

"I was promised there'd be some more of that weird ice cream here."

To Vanitas's dismay, they didn't actually answer his question, but only led him further into the town, away from the shadowed space where they'd parked the ship. Following the stone trail, the sudden appearance of sunlight was almost blinding, but revealed the hidden beauty of the world. The posters slapped haphazardly on the wall were illuminated with the golden glow of the setting sun, the rays of sun reaching almost every corner he could see, bathing it all in a gleaming radiance.

With Vanitas staring doe-eyed at all the new sights, Riku pulled him further along, not wanting to fall too far behind the others. But that natural curiosity, looking at it all as if it were the most magnificent thing he'd seen...

So much like Sora, and yet nothing like him at all. Yes, the thought of taking a break hurt him, knowing that Sora might be out there, waiting, whilst they sat around. But they'd made more progress than... well, since they'd started. And everyone deserved to rest for a while. A very Sora-esque thing to do.

Before they were even aware of it, they'd already reached the bottom of the clock tower, meandering along.

"Hope you're not afraid of heights." Roxas smirked smugly at Vanitas before opening up the maintenance door, revealing the winding staircase all the way to the top.

\-----

One thing that filled him with a slight unease was the sky. The clouds idly passing by were the only thing that moved, but that was it. The sky never changed its colour, the air was still and stagnant, and the water only rippled when he moved.

Everything felt too static, too devoid of life.

Sure, he couldn't remember any other sky, or for that matter, anything else, but it still just felt so... wrong.

With a deep breath, he tried to remember. Remember anything, any small detail, anything at all-

With a wince, all that came up was static. An aching pain, that no matter how hard he grasped at it, it slipped through his fingers. Fractions of memories, growing ever so slightly, but never enough.

As he stared up at the sky, squinting at the harsh light, he wanted nothing more to remember.

What was it that Vanitas and Strelitzia said? Other people? Did he have friends? People waiting for him?

One comfort that he found was that despite being alone, he felt an occasional warmth in his heart. Whenever it came, he reciprocated it to the best of his ability. Did he know what it was, where it was coming from? Nope.

Was it reassuring nonetheless? Maybe so.

It was... familiar. As if it was something so natural to him, he didn't need to even think about it or remember it to share the light in his heart.

...But it wasn't enough. He wanted to remember, he _needed_ to remember.

His unease grew with each second his surroundings stilled, only the clouds inching slowly across the sky, barely noticeable, and the shadows growing longer and longer.

Guess he would keep trying until it was enough. Until it was something tangible he could focus on, anything he could remember.

And he kept walking forwards.

\-----

The view from the top of the clock tower just had Vanitas even more enamoured with his surroundings. Never before did he have the time to relax, to just sit in the warm glow of the sun and bask in it.

He... enjoyed it.

And he was surrounded with people he could actually call his friends for the first time in his life. And the alluring bribe of ice cream, that too.

Which, of course, was presented to him by the walking portable ice cream storage waiting for them all on the ledge.

Well, less presented, and more snatched-off-of-and-I-will-not-apologise, but little details, right?

Whilst Lea looked a mixture of sad, shocked, and surprised for a beat, he shrugged it off nonchalantly and simply grabbed another from the bag residing next to the blue-haired man with a teasing smirk on his face.

"You seem familiar, and I'm not talking about the... facial resemblance, per se. Regardless, I'm Isa."

"Vanitas. And I know I have a reputation, yeah, but, uh..." He looked off to the side, as if slightly ashamed of it, but he continued nevertheless, "I'd owe you one if you could forget about that."

"Consider it forgotten." Isa gave him a knowing, sympathetic look, and handed him another ice cream to replace the one he finished in nearly an instant.

The rest of the group took their seats upon the ledge, with Roxas and Hayner sitting beside one another, swinging their legs in tandem, Xion and Namine exchanging gifts and hugging one another before passing ice cream down their row, Kairi and Olette linking their hands and sitting beside one another, with Pence and Riku receiving said ice cream and continuing their casual conversation, leaving Vanitas at the edge, alone.

At least, that's what he thought he would be. They welcomed him so quickly, so easily, allowing him to engage in their conversations, allowing him to make... friends. Yeah, he liked the sound of that.

After a few hours, he got accustomed and settled in, the glow of the sun still glistening in the sky being hot enough for him to feel warm, yet not hot enough to melt all the precious, precious ice cream. _Perfect._

That was, until Namine was reminded out of the blue of a little something her and Xion forgot, whispering it into her ear.

And just like that, the calm quiet was replaced with bustling, latent energy.

"Vanitas! I challenge you for the prize of one Unversed!" Xion yelled, determination burning in her chestnut eyes.

"Did you have too much sugar from the ice cream?" Vanitas had a teasing tone in his voice and a challenging look on his face. "The next person who asks me for an Unversed gets smacked upside the head, got it?"

"Jerk." Roxas sulked.

"Asshole." Vanitas sneered back.

"Look, honey, the kids are getting along." Isa deadpanned, facing Lea, who nearly dropped his ice cream off the tower, stumbling and trying to maintain his composure, failing completely.

"Hey! I mean it! What do you say? A quick bout, just you and me, winner takes all!"

"What exactly would I take?" He snarkily replied, a smug look in his eyes.

And with a quiet few seconds of careful consideration, she said the 9 words that he wanted to hear more than anything else in that moment.

"I'll buy you a whole bag of ice cream."

And without a second's hesitation, he instantly replied. "You're on."

\-----

Finding an empty, open space wasn't too hard in the sleepy streets of Twilight Town. By the time they were finished up atop the clock tower, most people had cleared out, tiredly returning to their quaint homes, preparing for the next day ahead.

But Vanitas and Xion? They had never been more awake, brimming with anticipation.

One seeking the prize of an adorable, new, little companion friend, the other fighting for ice cream. Equally determined, they spaced themselves out from one another, giving each other adequate preparation space for the fight ahead.

In the small, paved clearing they had found near an alley, Riku, Kairi, Olette, Pence, Hayner, Roxas, Isa, and Lea stood peering outside from the barrier spell they had cast in order to avoid any casualties. The fact that the two had thought that far ahead had filled the others with a slight worry of how far they would actually take an alleged 'quick bout'.

Vanitas, stood with his own Keyblade poised above his head, beckoning Xion to come with a mischievous grin on his face. Opposite him, Xion stood, plastered firmly into the ground, both hands gripping her new Keyblade, her eyes sharp and calculative.

Of course, the first one to make a move was Vanitas, steadfast in his prized goal, dashing forward and making contact with Xion, thankfully already prepared for a strike, parrying it perfectly.

Vanitas jumped back, with Xion this time lunging forward as soon as he was vulnerable, swiping at his legs in a failed attempt to knock him down. He was just out of range, but jumping back still had him uneasy on his feet.

She tried to fire off a Blizzard, but it just wasn't quick enough as he dodge rolled away, getting his bearings back.

With slightly muffled mixed cheers from outside of their sparring grounds, he threw his Keyblade at her in a Strike Raid, immediately retracting it back once it had hit her. Unfortunately for him, it didn't hit her hard enough, but still leaving her slightly dazed afterwards, giving Vanitas the perfect opportunity to cast a Thunder, hopefully stunning her for long enough for him to get some good hits in.

And yet, his hopes were dashed when that Thunder came right back at him as Xion cast a well timed Reflect, leaving Vanitas with mere seconds to haphazardly duck, the spell firing against the shield.

Vanitas scoffed as the ricocheting magic dissipated, leaving nothing but a heavy static in the air. One thing he learned from his years of fighting is to never underestimate your opponent, and Xion certainly wasn't one to be underestimated.

So much so that he couldn't even have a moment to think before she ran around the edge of the barrier, moving too fast for Vanitas to get a good shot in, locking onto him and shooting a Fira which knocked him to his side, much to the happiness of Lea, ecstatic and whooping louder than everyone else the second the spell fired.

As Xion took advantage once more of his weak point, she cast a Graviga, pulling Vanitas in, leaving him suspended in the air. And yet, instead of attacking him, she attacked one thing that hurt him even more. His pride. "Giving up yet?"

"As if." Refusing to lay there, exposed and vulnerable, he managed to escape from the powerful spell with a dark portal, making his way behind Xion, unbeknown to her.

Almost as if in retaliation for her snide comment, he summoned a Blizzard directly to her back, catching her so off guard, she fell to the floor. Shaking off the icy chill, she sat, resigned, holding up her hands in defeat.

She prepared herself for the degrading victory lap... that never came. What she never could have expected Vanitas to do was hold his hand to her with a reserved smile, offering to help her off the ground as the spell maintaining the barrier around them slowly deteriorated.

She took the hand tentatively, not quite sure of what was happening and brushed the dirt off her clothes.

"Gotta say, that's a pretty good effort."

Xion, still in something akin to shock, gave him a small hug as a victory prize. And yet again, Vanitas still didn't know how to really reciprocate, settling for an awkward back pat instead.

The thought itself was greatly appreciated. So much so, that the familiar warmth of friendship filled Vanitas, and...

_You know what? This time I'm not even surprised. In fact..._

Vanitas held up the new, skittish, ivory flood in his arms and presented it to the enamoured Xion, mouth agape and arms outstretched, openly accepting the gift.

"W-Wait, what?! But I lost! Why?"

"You earned it. You fight good." Vanitas shrugged and turned away.

"But don't they fade or you take them back?" Xion inquired, still holding the small flood in her arms, cradling it as if it were the most precious thing she had even seen.

"Nah." Still turned away, Vanitas had a genuine smile on his face. "I doubt this one's gonna fade anyways."

As Namine came rushing to Xion's side, gazing at the small creature with reverence, Isa came strolling into the the gathering with a large bag filled with sea salt ice cream.

"Wait, Isa, you left?" Lea tilted his head in confusion. "How did I not notice?" 

"You were busy looking at the fire." Isa raised an eyebrow and came closer to Vanitas.

"Hey, that's!- ... Actually, that does kind of make sense. Carry on."

"I believe this is yours." He held out the bag with delicate care as Vanitas snatched it not-so-delicately. Attempting to restrain the urge to devour them all on the spot, he paused momentarily before taking one out of the bag.

And handing it to Namine, then Xion, then Isa, and everyone else, much to their joint confusion.

"But wasn't this _your_ prize? Why are you sharing it?" Roxas asked warily. Surely this had to be a prank, some kind of payback? Were they all laced with pepper rather than salt, a cruel twist on his beloved ice cream? Cautiously unwrapping it with careful examinations, he took a bite out of it. _Oh. They're actually sea salt._

And with a simple mumble, he answered. "Eh, why the fuck not."

That sort of reasoning couldn't really be argued with.

They soon casually passed through the plaza once more, with Vanitas, Riku, and Pence chatting away at the front, Xion and Namine closely in tow, in shared adoration of their wonderful new little friend, Roxas and Hayner briefly setting eyes on a nearby poster labelled 'Struggle' and practically talking faster than the sound could travel, Kairi and Olette with their linked arms slowly moving along, and Isa tugging Lea away from a local fireworks stall.

Just as they were about to enter the alleyway leading to their secluded Gummiship, Riku was startled by a small buzz from his phone.

"Hey. Vanitas."

"Hm?" He turned his head to look at him, still gnawing on a previous stick from an ice cream bar.

"Ienzo said he has a small gift for you. Wanna go check it out?" Riku asked, casually slipping in the choice, entirely up to him.

With a nonchalant shrug, he replied. "As long as it's not more of those stupid tests, then sure."

Kairi, hearing about the prospect of once again returning to Radiant Garden, even for just a short period of time, hopped along the path, catching up to the others's pace. "I'm in for another trip there!"

"Ah, you'll have to excuse me, but I think I'll stay here with Xion for a bit, if that's alright?" Namine asked, looking at Kairi for confirmation.

"Nams, of course, you can do whatever you want to do and go wherever you want to go. We won't force you to go anywhere you don't want, alright?" She said with a smile on her face, reciprocated by Namine's own.

Finally reaching the gauche yellow and red Gummiship, perhaps in the one place where it could almost blend in, Riku, Vanitas, and Kairi all said their goodbyes. A promise shared, to return next time, and hopefully with another person in tow.

Waving a farewell to her friends before the doors closed, shutting out the natural, golden rays of light, Kairi was the last to take her seat.

And as expected, Vanitas made his obligatory snarky remark of the trip.

"Wait, you still know how to get there, right? I need a break from all this following-my-heart shit."

With a small shared scoff from Riku and Kairi, Riku finally finished tapping in his destination to the navigation system. "Radiant Garden, here we come."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> no one has any fucking idea how much restraint i have not to type 'fives? a ten is speaking' every single time vanitas enters an area and its killing me
> 
> also for some reason i kept misspelling clock tower as clown tower and honestly? same thing


	11. Radiant Return

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> my goal: to get this written before mom releases (its the 27th right now so i know the demo's out)
> 
> EDIT: well. fuck that i guess
> 
> anytime i want to do something even the slightest bit productive my brain smacks my tiny little hands and yells for any sort of enrichment but like. bud. please

If Vanitas had to describe what he was feeling, it would have to be surmised as curiosity. Trepidation for the news, fear of the unknown, but overall? He was curious. There weren't many points in Vanitas's life where he had felt like this. There was always a guaranteed outcome in every single thing he did. Forging the X-blade, light and darkness, always a definitive answer.

But now?

Perhaps navigating unknown was harder than he could have ever anticipated. At least he wasn't alone, fortunately.

Unfortunately, the idiots he was stuck with simply wouldn't shut up during their entire ride. Talking to him, making him feel welcome... _Ugh. Stupid Guardians of Light._

At last, with an end in sight, the navigation system once more signalled their destination, causing Vanitas to stop tapping his fingers on the side of his chair absentmindedly.

\-----

For all he lamented the sights of Radiant Garden, after visiting several other worlds, maybe it wasn't so bad. Had to called 'Radiant' Garden for a reason, right?

All he had to do was pay attention to the little things. Well, maybe this wasn't the best world to start with. A world you tormented and were part of the reason for its destruction in the past perhaps wasn't a good think to think about for the time being?

Thankfully, to pull him out of his thoughts, the distinct silver gleam of the lab shone in the distance.

The labyrinthine hallways remained identical to their first visit: long, twisting wires entwined with the very foundations of the building, an maze they had no clue how the scientists navigated.

Thankfully, one such scientist was found amidst a swath of scattered papers strewn on the chaotic and rather hazardous desk.

"Ah! My apologies, I wasn't expecting your company so soon, I shan't take a moment to clear up some of this-" Ienzo attempted to explain himself.

"Yeah, yeah, we get it," Vanitas cut in bluntly, "you have the whole mad and sleep-deprived scientist look going for you. What did you want us here for?" 

With a smack on the backside of Vanitas' head (courtesy of Kairi), the indigo-haired scientist continued to rummage around, finally finding a small, yellow device.

"With some assistance from Chip and Dale, of course."

"Wow. A rectangle. You guys sure do some amazing work."

As though to explain, Riku held up his own 'rectangle'. "It's a Gummiphone. This one's for you, apparently."

Snatching it with eager excitement and eyeing it up in his hands, Vanitas strolled over to a corner to proceed to poke it, with Kairi shortly following after an apology on his behalf and a quick jog.

"Hey, Ienzo, thank you." Riku spoke with gratitude. "I was also wondering, if, uh..."

"Ah, your replica! I must admit, Even thought it was a rather odd request, but I assure you, I attempted to assuage his doubts and discussions shall occur later on this matter." Ienzo earnestly admitted. With a caring gaze, as if to reassure him, Riku nodded and rejoined his friends.

"-And that's how you do the basics, alright?" Kairi handed Vanitas back the phone, her small tutorial complete. Out of her little trio of friends, it was her that took to having a phone the easiest. The benefits of staying in school for a year rather than sleeping in a pod or hiding in isolation, huh?

"Can we just get on with the communicating part? I have many plans to enact."

With a few taps on the screen from Kairi, Vanitas stared at the screen in awe and began to smack the screen as though it were his enemy.

**UNKNOWN:** hey

**UNKNOWN:** HEY

**ven:** hello???? hwo is this????

**UNKNOWN:** bitch

**ven: **

**ven:** hey vani

He let out a loud, 'menacing' laugh that one could easily mistake for one of a malicious nature, and then returned to smacking the screen.

"As riveting as this is," Ienzo informed them, "I'm afraid I must-"

Before he could finish his sentence, he was once more interrupted, yet by a familiar voice emanating from a nearby window this time. "Hey! Ienzo! C'mon, it's lunch already!"

"Demyx! I'll be right there!" He shouted back, quickly stuffing some objects from the desk into a brown satchel, slinging it over his neck. "I do hope you take to using your device well!"

And with a parting wave, Ienzo traversed the twisting wires to find his way outside to Demyx.

Without moving his eyes from the screen, Vanitas addressed the other two people in the lab. "Hmm. Guess it is lunch. I'm hungry."

Much to their dismay. "Are... are you serious? We quite literally just had ice-cream." Riku stammered as Kairi went slack-jawed. Guess Vanitas must've picked up Sora's appetite.

"Yeah, and that was before. This is now. Now is lunch. Where is the lunch?"

Without even waiting for an answer, he began to follow the same path Ienzo took, taking matters into his own hands to find a place to eat.

Hurriedly attempting to catch up to him, the bright, pale light came far too quickly, slowing both of them to an abrupt stop.

Right in the middle of the town's square stood an awe-struck Vanitas, seemingly enamoured with the sweet scent emanating from a local bakery.

They finally caught up to him, only mildly out of breath. "Vani, hey, there's a bakery in there." Kairi spoke through her slight panting. "You can get something if you want."

With a spark of determination and anticipation in his eye, he rustled out the remaining munny in his pocket and approached the bakery.

Riku and Kairi, still unsure of how he could eat anything else, squinted through the harsh beams of light to try and find anywhere to sit, settling for a small table near a bush of roses. As they slouched in their seats in a feeble attempt to regain some energy, Vanitas burst through the doors of the bakery, proudly holding his delectable treat in a near instant.

"Is that... a crème brulee? I remember seeing this at the restaurant in Twilight Town as a highlight of their new desserts!" Kairi excitedly doted, still full from the mount of ice cream eaten with her friends.

The dessert in front of him, encased in a small, white pot, glistened in the sun with its caramelised top layer. Whipping out his phone with a grin, he once more began to type. 

**vani:** [snacc.png]

**vani:** VENTUS LOOK AT THIS

**vani:** I AM ENJOYING THINGS AND YOU ARE NOT

**vani:** HOW DOES IT FEEL

**ven:** heyyyyy :( not fair >:( taht looks rwally good 

**ven:** terra s gardenign but when hes done i wansn ask for that

**vani:** THAT SOUNDS LIKE A YOU PROBLEM

**ven:** wwait hold on

Vanitas cackled away at his phone in the glory he wished to revel in for so long, as Kairi and Riku sat aside, basking in the gentle, warm sun, reminiscent of their island.

With Vanitas distracted, Riku turned to Kairi to get her attention, a rather apologetic look on his face.

"Look... I know that we're closer than ever to finding him, but I was so focused that I forgot that you're my friend too. I'm sorry, Kai."

And as she chuckled to herself, practically sick of hearing apologies from Riku, he said the one thing that she wanted to hear the most. "I'll help you on your search."

With a gasp and tears welling up in her eyes, she launched herself forward into Riku into a tight embrace. Even the smallest gestures could mean a lot.

**WAYFINDERS**

_**ven**_ added_ **vani**_

**ven:** SHWO THE FOOD

**vani:** ok bröther

**vani:** [snacc.png]

**ven:** terra i know that youre gardenign but for later plssss

**Aqua:** Ventus, Is This Vanitas That You Have Added?

**ven:** ya

**Aqua:** Ah, I See.

_**vani**_ changed _**Aqua**_ to _**water**_

_**vani**_ changed_** TERRA**_ to _**dirt**_

**vani:** hi >:)

**dirt:** WHTS GOING ON

Vanitas, enamoured with his phone, practically forgot about his delectable dessert in front of him. That was, until he somehow compressed the entire thing onto his spoon and ate it whole.

Kairi and Riku, disturbed from their nice bask in the warm sun now sat with wide eyes and slack jaws. Disgust? Awe? Confusion? Perhaps a mix of all, but needless to say, they had absolutely no idea what just happened.

Thankfully, to break them out of their stupor, a small light shined in the corner of Riku's eye, more specifically, the phone in his hand.

**water:** Hello, Riku. We Are Almost Prepared For Another Journey To Radiant Garden. Shall We Reconvene Where We Did Last?

**wiku:** Yeah that sounds good

**wiku:** I think we're... somewhat ready here too 

**water:** Excellent. We Shall See You In The Central Square Shortly.

"That was Aqua, she- wait, where's Vanitas?" Riku whipped his head around, searching in all directions for the boy who disappeared from their sights.

"I don't know... I just heard a notification from your phone, looked for a second, and then he was gone!" Kairi pointed to the empty, askew chair for emphasis on her point, joining Riku in turning her head to search.

And, _of course_, at that very moment, the familiar sounds of Keyblade gliders could be heard landing right where they had agreed. Just _perfect_ timing.

Swerving around the verdant bushes of blooming rose buds, they once more ran through the vibrant streets to meet their friends, hoping they wouldn't notice someone's absence.

"Heyyy, Aqua, you guys are early!" Riku awkwardly chuckled in a poor attempt to assuage their doubts.

"Riku, as a Master, it's imperative to know that the worlds are on different scales of time." Aqua raised an eyebrow at the young boy and the Princess of Heart trying her best to seem nonchalant next to him.

Thankfully, to save them from their terrible act of being casual, the sound of thick boots echoed closer and closer, thankfully revealing itself to be Vanitas.

A faint _oh, so that's where he went,_ could be heard from Kairi, but she quickly brushed off as though nothing had happened.

In his hands, three more familiar white pots could be seen, presumably with the same delightful treat Vanitas had previously devoured. Without making eye contact with a single person, looking aside with a snarl, he outstretched his hands, offering them to the newcomers. Ventus, barely able to control his own excitement, Terra, examining the fine treat in front of him with curiosity, and Aqua, looking dubiously and tentatively accepting.

"There's, like... seats over there, or whatever. If you want to eat them." The boy clad in black mumbled, somewhat audible to the others, pointing past the bushes of flowers.

_Alright. Perhaps he has changed,_ Aqua thought to herself, reluctantly stepping over to the aforementioned tables, glistening in the sun.

"A small break can't hurt, right?" Ven asked, giving Aqua the biggest smile to ensure she couldn't refuse.

"Didn't you literally just arrive from having a break-" Vanitas butted in, and subsequently being interrupted by a bump on his shoulder, belonging to Ventus.

"Irrelevant!" Ventus immediately lauched himself into the closest seat there was, slouching in the chair illuminated by the sunlight once more, making it a perfect napping spot.

Terra, following suit, seated himself directly next to the roses, closely monitoring their progress and taking very small bites of his own dessert without looking at it.

Aqua, finally dismissing her own reluctance took the seat next to Terra, leaving the final seat next to Ven empty for Vanitas to sit down, a sign of trust.

Kairi and Riku watched as Vanitas sat cross-legged, a look of fake disdain on his face, Ven practically slept with his face in his food, Terra admired the flowers and only took fractions of his dessert, leaving the rest for Aqua as she sneakily stuck her own spoon in to steal his food.

"Well, we'll be off. Good luck, guys." Riku said with a glisten in his eyes, with true meaning behind his words, as the duo waved the others a farewell before boarding their Gummiship.

Hours passed and despite their desserts being long gone, they still remained sat in their seats in conversation. Much to their surprise, Vanitas could actually be... a fun person to talk to.

Perceptive, even.

"Dirt boy, I saw you looking at the flowers." Vanitas looked directly at Terra, diverting his attention away from the blooming bushes. "They're pretty nice, but I would think you have some other interest in them."

The taller boy chuckled to himself in an almost self-deprecating laugh. "Apparently, I'm more obvious than I think. I... I've been helping Radiant Garden be restored to what it used to be ever since its fall, mainly because... I'm the reason it happened in the first place. I took up gardening, and I've been helping out when I can."

Even Vanitas, the one made from negativity, knew that it was dangerous to burden that much guilt alone. In fact, all three of them, no matter how joyful they appeared, had some lingering sense of guilt and blame hiding. So he did the thing he knew how to best: change feelings. Except, maybe he could change them for the better.

"No, you're not. You're not the reason. Remember me? You gotta give me some credit for all my hard work, and the old bastard. He planned everything, and we were all just pawns to him. Disposable, faceless beings to be used for his own selfishness."

Vanitas's words were genuine, and despite only talking to Terra, all three of them knew it was for them, too. As he continued, he looked to the distance, almost as if he were remembering something.

"If there's one thing I've learned, it's that even if you've done bad things in the past, it doesn't make you a terrible person beyond saving. And I know now, I'm not fighting for darkness or light. I'm fighting for what I believe in, and what I want."

"Thank you, Vanitas... It means a lot." Terra said with a smile, the words obviously having been thought about a lot. He wanted to change. They'd give him that opportunity.

"Just call me 'Vani'." He replied, finally turning to face them, hoping the small shining in his eyes wasn't visible.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> im really just following my heart with this fic<3 (thats kh talk for i have no fucking clue what im doing)
> 
> i know this is a super short chapter but i just really want to get this done!! its been. WAY too long kjhfkjh

**Author's Note:**

> comments and kudos greatly appreciated!


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